Ariane Lopez-Huici

In 1975, Ariane Lopez-Huici decided to dedicate herself to photography and does her first one-woman exhibition at Dartmouth College in 1977. In 1980, she moves and settles in New York with her husband, the sculptor Alain Kirili. In 2004, two major retrospectives of her work are exhibited at the Museum of Grenoble, France, and at the IVAM in Valencia, Spain. In 2008, the New York Studio School presents a retrospective of her most recent works.

Her work focuses on the human body, transgressing the conventional canon of beauty. Accentuating the shadowy areas of the human adventure, she uses black and white photography with a pronounced grain and deep blacks. Her series Adama & Omar and Kenekoubo develops her interest in any kind of physical and sensual expression. Her most recent series Rebelles and Triumph deal with a group of volumptuous women asserting their majesty. And her most recent series Priscille (2009-2010) with an amputated model, claims in the tradition of Rodin to be for the true beauty and personality of the fragmented body. Of Dalila, Ariane Lopez-Huici writes:

“These models are heroes of our time. Through their talent, their strength and courage, they enlarge the boundaries of our emotional and visual world. Their beauty emerges from the poetry of their bodies in weightlessness. El Duende, life itself. The imperfection is the art of freedom opposed to the fascism of Apollonian art. I love Goya, Dziga Vertov, Maya Deren, and Antonin Artaud.”

Since the 1970s, I have followed with great attention the courageous movements of women against the discrimination of their representation or group shows in museums and galleries. I knew personally Louise Bourgeois, with whom I had conversations on creation and sexuality, and I had many in depth philosophical dialogues with the philosopher Julia Kristeva with whom I have published our conversation: “A Conversation between Julia Kristeva and Ariane Lopez-Huici” Ile de Re, France, September 1990, published by Ac Projectroom.

However, it is primarily through my photographic artwork that I have tried to liberate the woman’s body from the dogmatism of fashion and commerce, which can lead to disconcerting illnesses. The world is about more than mercantile aims and the female body is not merchandise. My photographs address the subject of excess or mutilation of the body, but nevertheless, affirm a dignity, seduction, and joie de vivre.