
Yesmine Ben Khelil
Born 1986. Tunisia
Biography
Born in 1986 in Tunisia, she lives and works both in Tunis and Paris. In her work on paper, Yesmine Ben Kehlil reappropriates images she has found on the internet: old photographs, books or archive documents and incorporates them into drawings done with felt tip pens, pencils, ink and gli er paint. In J’ai tenu parole (2015), a series based on a propaganda document published by the Tunisian government in 1963, the artist establishes an ironic relationship between the past and present of her country. Using superposition, the drawings can be seen through the depth of the book’s pages. A poetic montage of the images of yesteryear with those of today enables the artist to raise the issue of the rewriting of history and the representation of reality in a world transformed by the constant ow of information.
Yesmine Ben Khelil received a degree in Plastic Arts and Sciences of Art from the Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. She participated in Réenchantements, the main exhibition of the 12th Dakar Biennale (2016), as well as in a collective exhibition at the Institut des Cultures d’Islam in Paris (2016).
Yesmine Ben Khelil’s work explores, develops and captures a world of speculative beings mined from internet searches and stock imagery. So-called characters are then immortalised in ink, pencil or pastel portraits, a process which serves to question the reality or truth of their derivative image. These drawings are often placed against or into old literary editions, challenging the schemata of the book.
Ben Khelil received a master’s degree in Plastic Arts and Sciences of Art from Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris. Solo exhibitions include History of Haunting, Escalier B, Bordeaux (2016) and The Universe is Expanding, Selma Feriani Gallery, Tunis (2016). Works have been presented at Nanjing International Art Festival, Baijia Lake Museum, Nanjing (2016); Dak’Art – Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain, Dakar (2016) and Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris (2016).
Selected Works
Education
Master Degree in Plastic Arts and Sciences of Art Université Paris I Panthéon – Sorbonne. Paris, France
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2016 History of haunting, L’escalier B, Bordeaux, France.
2015 The Universe is Expanding. Selma Feriani Gallery. Tunis, Tunisia
Group Exhibitions
2017
AKAA, Foire d’art contemporain et design d’afrique, Paris. France (Agalery)
1:54 African contemporary Art fair, London, UK (Primo Marella Gallery)
Parrallel Vienna, Vienna, Austria, curated by Christine Bruckbauer
Sum of parts, Project and art resources to share (art platform)
The black sphinx. From Morocco to Madagascar, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan.
Le jour qui vient, La galerie des galeries, Paris, curated by Marie Ann Yemsi.
2016
Nanjing International Festival, Baijia Lake museum, China, curated by Lu Peng and Letizia Ragaglia.
1:54 African contemporary Art fair, London, UK (Primo Marella Gallery),
3ajel/le temps reel, exposition Talan, Tunis, curated by Aicha Gorgi and Marc Monsallier.
Reenchantement, Biennale de Dakar, Senegal, curated by Simon Njami.
Effervescence, Institut des cultures d’islam, Paris, France, curated by Michket Krifa.
DDessin, La petite collection, Espace CO2, Paris, France.
2015
1:54 African contemporary Art fair, London, UK (Selma Feriani Gallery)
Réminiscences, exposition Talan. Tunis, Tunisia
2014
Art Dubai, EAU. (Selma Feriani Gallery)
Turbulence project Imago Mundi. Luciano Benetton Collection. Italy
Portrait Redux. Selma Feriani Gallery. Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia
2013
Contemporary Art/Doha, Sotheby’s, Qatar
Portraits. Selma Feriani Gallery. London, UK
Young little monsters. Hope Contemporary Gallery. La Marsa, Tunisia
2012
Printemps des arts/ Art Fair Tunis, palais el abdeleya, la marsa, curated by Meriem Bouderbela and Paolo Pirelli
2011
Arab Springs. 9eme Rencontres de Bamako. Bamako, Mali.
Residencies
2016
L’escalier B, Bordeaux, France