Jeanne Susplugas

Born in Montpellier, France. Lives in Paris, France.

“Committed but not militant, Jeanne Susplugas’ approach attacks all forms and strategies of confinement, both to question the individual’s relationship with himself and with others.”

Jeanne Susplugas has been photographing fruit baskets for several years now, whenever the opportunity arises. As she takes more and more shots, the artist quickly realizes that the function of these objects has gradually been transformed by their owners. Far from being innocent still lifes, they are often used as pocket trays, especially when it comes to storing medication.

These photographs were used as preparatory work for ceramic pieces. In this way, she tackles one of the great clichés of art history, giving it a new dimension. Still life has long been considered a secondary theme in the hierarchy of genres established in the 17th century, but here, it becomes a polemical object, conveying a powerful message.

The artist’s work is highly protean, deploying a wide range of media: drawings, photographs, installations, sculptures and films, all of which interact and enrich each other. The result is a singular aesthetic that may appear seductive, but is also gritty and disturbing. She questions man’s relationship with himself, penetrates his psyche and exposes an obsessive, sometimes even dysfunctional world. With these ceramics, Jeanne Susplugas proposes a subtle approach to the theme of addiction, which she affectionnates a lot.