Divinités noires – a photography exhibition by Dany Leriche and Jean Michel Fickinger
November 13 – December 12, 2014
Embassy of France
4101 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC 20009
Black Power, 2014.
About the exhibtion:
The Cultural Service of the Embassy of France, in partnership with the photography festival, FotoWeek DC, presents Divinités noires, a photography exhibition by Dany Leriche and Jean Michel Fickinger.
Unveiling a collection of large-scale photographs printed on canvas and tarpaulin, these portraits were taken by the French artists in Togo and Benin on the occasion of ritual ceremonies. Contrary to the ethnographic use of photography, the models used here become active subjects rather than mere objects of observation.
Black Power, 2014.
The way in which they project themselves onto the lens, in which they take hold of the image that they wish to portray of themselves, the way in which they play with the ritual of picture shooting; the entirety of their participative attitude, far from harming the documentary quality of the images, enriches them.
The opening reception will take place at the Embassy of France on November 13th at 7:30 p.m. Ticket reservations are required to this free admission opening.
Divinités noires will be on view through December 12, 2014.
Black Power, 2014.
About the artists:
Dany Leriche and Jean Michel Fickinger live and work in France. Their artistic collaboration was born at the same time of their first meeting, 20 years ago. From the start, they lead us onto a second reading of the image of women in the history of Western painting. Today, they travel throughout Africa, drawn by the mysteries of certain customs that have survived, and lead research on those spiritual minorities that show resistance to globalization and scientific materialism. In the long term, their work consists of exploring the source of different cultures, particularly as they question the interactions between identity and ceremonies for the sacred.
Black power, 2014.
Leriche and Fickinger show their work in galleries and museums as well as in cultural centers in France and abroad, including Korea, Brazil and Canada. They have been recognized with the Villa Médicis Hors les Murs in 2006 for their work in Mali, an artist residency at the Sacatar Institute in Brazil in 2009, and the Mention spéciale du jury of the Prix Scam Roger Pic in 2011 for their series Chasseurs de l’invisible. Dany Leriche teaches Visual Arts at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Jean Michel Fickinger teaches photography at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Nancy. http://dljmf.org
