Meeting Inès Longevial’s New Gazes at Ketabi Bourdet
We interviewed her at her studio just a few days ago. Inès Longevial, whose face we have all crossed thanks to her self-portraits, unveiled her new exhibition at Ketabi Bourdet on Thursday evening. Titled “Perchée” in homage to Italo Calvino’s novel The Rampant Baron, the exhibition plunges us into the heart of the artist’s universe. Inès Longevial’s world is populated by beautiful women with gracely yet unapologetically assertive gazes, who gently blend with nature inspired by the Costa Brava. Roots, swallows, ants and all sorts of elements belonging to the natural realm intermingle with their bodies like the scars bearing witness to their experiences. These perched women, bathed in a blue palette brighten up with touches of yellow and orange hues, engage in a soft dance through an interplay of light and shadows. The paintings are accompanied by small drawings on paper napkins, inspired by the surrealist practice of the “cadavre exquis”, revealing a more playful dimension of her artistic approach.
During the highly successful opening, where we struggled to meet the gaze of the women in her portraits, and even cocktails echoed the soft Mediterranean palette, we had the pleasure of meeting the artist, surrounded by her gallerists, Leo Walk, Clara Cornet, Leia Sfez, and a myriad of French and international collectors of contemporary art.
Text: Cristina López Caballer
Photos: Ayka Lux
