From February 27th to March 31st 2024, Artcurial's Contemporary African Art department, in partnership with Gallery OOA, will be exhibiting eighteen portraits by artist Marion Boehm, including her latest works produced in 2023. This varied ensemble traces her various artistic explorations around nomadism, femininity and the diversity of African identities, and pays tribute to her unique and committed oeuvre. All portraits will be available for purchase at the exhibition.

Born in 1964 in Duisburg, Germany, Marion Boehm adopted a nomadic lifestyle from an early age, travelling the world to discover new cultures, religions and ways of life. In 2010, she settled in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she taught art at a children's school and travelled to the township of Soweto, which has had a major influence on her work.  

The renowned South African artist Kay Hassan became her mentor and introduced her to a private community project in Kliptown, a decisive experience that prompted Marion Boehm to take a radical turn in her artistic work. Marion Boehm focused on the genre of portraiture, whether life-size, imagined or based on photographs. Working  with  mixed-media  collages, the artist plays with the superimposition of textiles, coloured fabrics, jewellery, beads and patterns. This creates countless details to discover, and invites the viewer deeper into the narrative of the work and the encounter she has had with each person. 

“The other becomes a fragment of the mirror of our own self.”
Marion Boehm 

Her technique is also representative of her collection of materials from all over the world - Europe, Asia and Africa - and from different eras and cultures. In each portrait, she creates a delicate interweaving of cultures, repositioning personal stories in a new context. This layering of histories and cultures is reinforced by the use of printed texts. These texts, which are statements, whether personal or taken from poems, are visible as watermarks on the faces of her characters. The text is repeated, decoding the intention of the work while leaving room for self-reflection and the viewer's own interpretation.

Eighteen previously unseen portraits by the artist will be shown at this event, and will be available at a private sale until 5th March 2024.