Valérie Belin's 'Les choses entre elles' at Les Franciscaines, Deauville

Valérie Belin's retrospective 'Les choses entre elles' at Les Franciscaines in Deauville (January 24 to June 28, 2026) explores the world of appearances through photography. The title references Francis Ponge and Michelangelo Antonioni, highlighting Belin's focus on essence and the play of appearances. Her work, spanning three decades, examines representation and alienation, often isolating subjects from context. Belin, born in 1964 in Boulogne-Billancourt, studied at the Beaux-Arts de Bourges and earned a DEA in philosophy of art at the Sorbonne. Her early work avoided anecdote, focusing on reflective surfaces like neon, mirrors, and crystal. Series such as 'Robes' (1996) from the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle de Calais, 'Voitures' (1998), and 'Viandes' (1998) address mortality and transformation. 'Bodybuilders' (1999) and 'Transsexuels' (2001) critique societal ideals. Her latest series 'Cover Girls' (2025) uses heliogravure and Photoshop layering to create a 'magical realism.' Belin, a 2015 Prix Pictet laureate and recent member of the Académie des beaux-arts, expresses fatigue with AI certification demands. The exhibition includes works from her feminist 'Black-Eyed Susan' series (2010) and her shift to digital and color.