PARIS
DECEMBER 2 - JANUARY 28, 2023
Artist Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo, who won the 6th edition of Prix Paritana - a Fondation H program, showcases the early steps of his project Ho nofy ihany [Nothing But A Dream]. Since its creation in 2017, this contemporary art prize has been supporting the Malagasy art scene, and is awarded annually to three artists who are either citizens or residents of Madagascar. Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo received personalized support from the Fondation H team, as well as a creation grant and a three-month residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris. The next developments of his project will be exhibited at the Institut Français de Madagascar in Antananarivo, in the spring of 2023.
Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo (1991, Antananarivo) is a self-taught artist finding expression in the medium of photography. With his Canon EOS 6D and preparatory sketches, he captures landscapes, objects, models, streets and building facades. At the core of his approach is a sampling effort allowing him to reassemble a whole world he has imagined - or even sometimes fantasized.
Yet, his dreamlike, fictitious, aesthetic research remains anchored in the reality of an artist photographer who feels he does not quite belong to the Malagasy cultural scene. According to Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo, in Madagascar, photography tends to be seen as second-class, an undemanding and uncreative form of art. From this observation, Mahefa is fighting to get photography acknowledged, a quest to which he has got even more committed after staying in Paris as part of his residency. Paris, where photography has been considered a form of art since the first half of the 20th century, has restored the artist's confidence to refocus on his practice. He has especially been influenced by the urban and rural aesthetics of Île-de-France, fueling an urge to play with colors.
Early steps to Ho nofy ihany [Nothing But A Dream] manifest through an installation where preparatory sketches are printed on a blue back support bearing photographic sample prints, which reveals an important part of the artist's process. The installation is completed by a video projection of three images he produced during his residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris, along with two aluminum-mounted photographs, calling for visitors’ introspection.
