At times, a Black woman’s work can bring on the universal feeling no matter where she lives in the world. She incites moments of awareness— not in that this has been done before, but that this experience is familiar and understood. Michèle Magema’s video work stars herself with a graceful intention, bravely questioning political authority and challenging beauty stereotypes.
Michèle Magema was born in 1977 in Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of Congo and emigrated to Paris, France in 1984– her family fleeing from Zairean rule. She studied at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts in Paris-Cergy, receiving a degree in art and design and caught attention at the Dakar Biennial in Senegal, winning the coveted Prix du Président de la République Sénégalaise.
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| Still from The Kiss of Narcisse (e), video, 2010, Vimeo. |
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| Still from The Kiss of Narcisse (e), video, 2010, Vimeo. |
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| Still from The Kiss of Narcisse (e), video, 2010, Vimeo. |
Magema’s videos are often split screens, demonstrated in
The Kiss of Narcisse (e) and Colors as Feelings. In
The Kiss of Narcisse (e), a short black and white noir styled film set around Parisian architecture, a woman dressed in a white, capped sleeve dress is doubly pictured— approaching towards the camera on the left, lovingly cupping the cheeks of white plastered faces on the right. As the demure figure comes closer the lower part of her face masked in white plaster, the other kisses the three faces, her own replicated face in white, and retreats. This romance with the self calls to mind the ancient myth of Narcissus, whose love for his own reflection turned him into a flower.
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| Still from The Type of Power, Vimeo. |
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| Still from The Type of Power, Vimeo. |
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| Still from The Type of Power, Vimeo. |
The Type of Power is a poignant video full of metaphor. With the sheer white shirt contrasting against the deep brown skin and black hair, the remote figure sits at a checkered table, three gold plates in front of her. On the left side, hidden from view, she reveals symbolic objects. She pours gems onto the first plate like riches, like money. Then she shockingly pulls out a gun, aiming it at the viewer before taking off its silencer and placing both onto the third plate. Lastly, she takes out a little book book, leafing through its pages, reading. She puts it onto the center plate. Money, education, and violence have always historically had their places in society, the power to keep citizens in line—keep them poorer, unintelligent, and afraid.
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| Colors as Feelings, 2013, Vimeo. |
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| Colors as Feelings, 2013, Vimeo. |
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| Colors as Feelings, 2013, Vimeo. |
From Magema’s
artist statement: “her feminine identity is at the center of her work. In effect, the feminine is represented as a metaphor for the human being. The exploration of this feminine identity displaced through time, memory, and history, reflects the image of a woman with a new identity that is totally detached from exoticism. Then in the midst of these dual metamorphoses, the double character image follows a parallel line to her dual cultural identity. The artist uses historical facts that she interprets through the production of scenes. The material of her work is always simple. She uses historical facts that she interpret through the production of scenes. Through these frontal images, she exposes her body that she uses as a metaphor for the relationship between the human being and the world at large. Her work sets up a direct relationship that certainly covers the field of society and politics, but it also relates to existentialism, and even anthropology.”
Magema has exhibited in DRC, France, the UK, Japan, and the United States with work in various collections. She currently lives and works in Nevers, France.
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