Rue Fleuriau, La Rochelle, 2022. Photo: Mélanie Chaigneau
Fragments of Joy deals with attachment, and with the construction and fragmentation of the self, particularly among young people from minority backgrounds in our contemporary society.
Inspired by superhero stories from popular culture, the series portrays struggling, abandoned and marginalised children who become the true superheroes of the real world. Emblematic faces of the anti-racist struggle, such as Gianna Floyd, daughter of George Floyd, and Assa Traoré, a symbol of the Black struggle in France, appear as Wonder Woman and Green Lantern.
These works give comic-book characters a new face, with the superhero T-shirts that give each work its name. These found objects are transformed in the studio, then temporarily returned to the street. Combining photography, painting and performance, this practice reinvents the face of the superhero and creates inclusive images in the service of social struggles.
Presented as part of the Le Printemps Fleuriau festival, in partnership with the Musée du Nouveau Monde in La Rochelle, the installation was shown outdoors throughout May 2022. The images, taken from photographs or archives, are deliberately fragmented by the slats of the bed base: viewers are invited to complete the missing parts in their minds.
Technical details
Title Fragments of Joy (Fragments de Joie)
Years 2014-2026
Medium Acrylic, oil and marker on adult bed base, marine varnish, steel frame
Collections Frac des Pays de la Loire (Autoportrait imaginé (Spider-Man), acquired 2024); Société Générale (Flash, 2022); agnès b. collection (Rafael, gift of the artist, 2020); private collections
Presentation Le Printemps Fleuriau, rue Fleuriau, La Rochelle, May 2022, in partnership with the Musée du Nouveau Monde
Photos Mélanie Chaigneau, Anthony Clergue
