DECOR is a triptych of photography, film and a sculpture all combining to celebrate the theme of identity in the conflicted territories of Kosovo (2007), the region of Abkhazia in Georgia (2008) and Transnistria (2010). The gelatin silver prints recount a visual diary of youth culture in regions where newly drawn lines question the essence of belonging. The conflict invites not only the anarchy associated with destruction, but also all other actors who claim advantage over an unsettled place bringing further chaos to a fragile landscape. The film “Internal Displacements” is an animated short produced by Le Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France. The Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck wrote an original score for it. The sculpture entitled “The Gaze” is a recount of an incredible encounter of young inmate in Batumi, Georgia. It is made of acrylic glass and projection perpetually allows the portrait of the prisoner to breathe in and out.
Jean-Christophe Couet is a Franco-American of Lithuanian heritage. He studied at the Filmová a Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzických Umění v Praze (FAMU) where he received an MFA. Subsequently, he obtained two fellowships from Fabrica, Benetton’s communications research center in Italy, and from Le Fresnoy, the National Studio of Contemporary Art in France.
Jean-Christophe’s work has been showcased at Le Grand Palais and at La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. He has refined the tone in his visual speech through The Breathing Canvas, a permanent installation commissioned by the newly built Museum of Russian Impressionism in Moscow.
Jean-Christophe Couet lives and works in New York City.
Decor par Jean-Christophe Couet
July 2019 – September 2019
ROSPHOTO
35 Bolshaya Morskaya Street
Saint-Petersburg
