In her most recent work, Juliette Clovis tackles in different ways the evolution of our identity in a society which is more than ever crisscrossed by cultural and genetic mixing. The artist especially focuses on the evolution of bodies – naturally or artificially - in a world ruled by appearances and contradictory notions such as superficiality and perfection. Hence she questions the notion of progress in our societies whjch leads to an ultimate transformation ie. that of our own DNA, and its long-lasting impact on our relationships from a physiological as well as a sociological point of view.

What these « aesthetic mutations » show us is this new emerging era we’re at the dawn of. It is neither real yet nor looming. The train of thought of the artist is clear: it questions human beings and their avatars. This aesthetic perfection in our appearance that we are craving for is both distressing and exciting because it nurtures an ultimate fantasy, that of our possible immortality. And the emergency of new worlds, more virtual, where identity can be embellished, stolen or multiplied is also the reflection of this need for a different self. This shows how modern the work of the artist is.

First underlying, the genetic issue is tackled more and more explicitly in her work. Nobody can tell if her « Embryos » representing actual fetus, but that of sublimated grown-up women, are ready or if they hesitate to come to this new world. The question is left unanswered just like all these bodies folding up and floating in an undefined universe. Her « Icons » are the symbol of genetics: after mixing different ethnic features in one single body, the artist tries to create a « new identity ».

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Everything is mingling; everything is weird, strangely beautiful and glamorously distressing.

Just like an SF novel, Juliette Clovis takes us to a future where human beings will rediscover the « creatures » in themselves. A future that might not be that far…

JULIETTE CLOVIS

VINYL ON PLEXIGLAS