JEREMY DEMESTER
As a descendant of the wandering ancestry of the Romani community, Jeremy Demester (b. 1988, Digne) draws from a wide variety of cultures and traditions within his oeuvre. It is an inherited wanderlust that first drew the artist to Benin in 2015, where he was invited for a residency at the Zinsou Foundation in Ouidah. Here, Demester discovered an alternate way of connecting to the world, through the power of magic, rituals and dance inspired by a keen observance and insightful knowledge of the country’s nature and ancient rites. Today, the artist lives and works between Benin and the South of France.
Demester’s recent works gather and convey the visions of an artist who gives a central place to intuition, which is a driving force in his practice. ‘Painting is a body in which thought and unknown desires are embodied,’ he explains. Drawing on the rich folklore, oral history, mystics and mythology of Benin culture, Demester explores the imaginative forces that bind Vodun societies and travelling peoples in his vibrant paintings, esoteric sculptures and intricate works on paper. Frequently executed in vivid layers of paint – at times free-flowing and gestural, at others meticulously rendered – his work speaks to the dreamy, expressive landscapes of the spiritual world.
Image: FTW #1, 2018, oil on canvas, 300.5 x 201 x 3.5 cm.; 118 1/8 x 78 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. Photo: Charles Duprat
Artist Talk
Selected Works
Solo Exhibitions
Group Exhibitions
Selected Institutional Exhibitions
Biography
VITA
1988
Born in Digne, France
2014
Graduated École des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Lives and works between the south of France and Ouidah, Benin
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah
Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne
Rennie Museum, Vancouver
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Shepherds’ Play
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Teratology of Love
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Times of Grace
Le LAB - Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou
2023
XXI
Perrotin, Dubai
Ram Muay
Galerie Max Hetzler, London
2022
Djemy
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2021
Gros-Câlin [Big hug]
Ouidah Museum - Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah
2020
OUIDAH
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2019
FTW
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2018
Stiftung zur Förderung zeitgenössischer Kunst in Weidingen, Eifel
Château Malromé, Saint André-du-Bois
2017
Mucciaccia Contemporary, Rome
Fire Walk With Me
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)
2016
33 engravings for Benji's revenge
Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne, Saint-Étienne (catalogue)
Palais de l'École des Beaux-Arts, Paris
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2015
Original Zeke
Zinsou Foundation, Ouidah
Galerie Art & Essai - Université Rennes 2, Rennes
Abrakadabra
Immanence, Paris
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
PYMO, Paris
2023
The Inner Island
Villa Carmignac, Porquerolles Island
2022
Aziza
Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou
2021
Travels with Herodotus: A Journey through African Cultures
Galleria Bianconi, Milan
Artistes à la Une Togeth'Her
Monnaie de Paris, Paris
Cosmogonies Zinsou: An African Collection
MO.CO. Hôtel des Collections, Montpellier
2020
RESONANCES
Fondation Opale, Lens
Low lows to high highs
Window Project, Tbilisi
Made in France
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2019
Par Hasard II
Friche de la Belle de Mai Marseille
Made in France
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
La Lumière des Mondes
Domaine des Etangs, Massignac
Les Enfants du Paradis
MUba Eugène Leroy, Tourcoing
2018
Chambres d’Amour - La Littorale #7 - Biennale Internationale d'Art Contemporain
Anglet - Côte Basque
2017
You know nothing Raymond (a homage by Jérémy Demester)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
Matière Grise
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris
2016
Das Bild hängt schief
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin
2015
Les Voyageurs (catalogue)
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Paris
2014
Ciel d'Ether
Brownstone Foundation, Paris
Empora
École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
J.M. Gallais, Jeremy Demester, exh. cat., Paris: Galerie Max Hetzler, 2023
A. Gugnon, Jeremy Demester: Fire Walk With Me, exh. cat., Berlin: Galerie Max Hetzler, 2018
Fage éditions / Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne (Eds.): 33 engravings for Benji's revenge, Lyon 2016
Videos
Publications
Jeremy Demester: Shepherds’ Play
Exhibition Poster
2024
€ 15.00
Jeremy Demester: Teratology of Love
Exhibition Poster
2024
€ 15.00
Jeremy Demester
Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris | London / Holzwarth Publications, Berlin 2023
With text by Jean-Marie Gallais
€ 40.00
Jeremy Demester: Djemy
Exhibition Poster
2022
€ 20.00
Jeremy Demester: OUIDAH
Exhibition Poster
2020
Edition of 100
€ 20.00
Jeremy Demester: Fire Walk With Me
Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris | London / Holzwarth Publications, Berlin 2018
With a text by Annabelle Gugnon and a booklet Raymond Hains: You Know Nothing Raymond
€ 45.00
Selected Press
Architectural Digest Magazine February 2019
Kunstforum February 2018
Berliner Zeitung January 2018
artpress October 2015
