Weems came of age in the 1960s and early ’70s in the US, amidst the Civil Rights Movement and second-wave feminism. When she got hold of her first camera in 1973, a 20th birthday present, she was working with a Marxist organization in San Francisco where she lived with her young daughter. Like many artists questioning cultural myths and social conventions around this time, it was through photography that she found a way into the complicated power structures and histories she wanted to redress. Since the 1980s, most often via conceptual photographic series, Weems has recalibrated the visual cues through which we read and understand gender, class and, most powerfully, race. If this makes her work sound didactic or antagonistic, it’s neither. Weems has an intractable belief in the capacity for compassion that inflects her work with wit and generosity. Continue reading Carrie Mae Weems→
ORLAN was born in Saint-Etienne, France. She lives and works between Paris, Los Angeles and New York. ORLAN explores different techniques such as photography, video, sculpture (in resin, marble and inflatable), drawing, installation, performance, biotechnology, etc… She was the first artist to use surgery as an artistic medium.
Makhubu has established herself as one of the new generation of lens based artists to explore issues of identity, culture, land, rights, economy and religion. Her acclaimed series, Self-Portrait Project alludes to the continued alienation and estrangement in an era where the focus is inclined toward self and individual identity as opposed to collective and communal life. One of the canonical meanings that Achille Mbembe (2002: 241) argues can be attributed to slavery and colonialism (as well as Apartheid) is dispossession, a process in which juridical and economic procedures have led to material expropriation. Makhubu’s latest series The Flood has received deserved critical acclaim. It marks a departure from her previous work, shifting from the personal to the public.
Esther Ferrer is a historic figure in Spanish contemporary art. Considered one of the major artists of her generation, especially as regards performance, her work can be seen as a minimalist mix of rigour, humour, appropriation and absurdity. In 1966 Ferrer joined Zaj, a contemporary music and performance group noted for its radical and conceptual productions, which were presented in Franco’s Spain. In 1999 Ferrer represented Spain at the Venice Biennale. While continuing to perform, she has taken part in many exhibitions around the world.
Born in 1937 in Space, she lives and works in Paris.
João Tabarra convoque des personnages mythiques comme Ulysse, Sisyphe ou encore Don Quichotte. Des alter ego qui ouvrent des espaces où la narration et la critique sont rendus possibles. En creux, les œuvres témoignent d’un engagement de l’artiste qui garde un œil critique sur la société portugaise, sur l’Europe et la mondialisation. Une vision qu’il traduit avec sincérité et justesse de sein de scènes situées entre l’absurde, la comédie et la tragédie. Chaque œuvre comporte une double, voire une triple lecture, traduisant la complexité humaine dans sa beauté comme dans sa maladresse.
El libro de las manos . 
Contemporary Photography Index 