Joëlle Dubois’ (°1990. Ghent, BE) bold, colourful and glossy paintings are a feist of ambiguities. Taking social media’s effect on predominantly female users’ lives as a main theme, Dubois explores the digital maze running through women’s very real lives. Irreversibly integrated in their homes, daily rhythms and sense of selves, smartphones become portals to an inevitably elusive world of ideals dictating everything happening offscreen. Addicted to social media, endlessly scrolling through images, staring at others – and in so doing at themselves – these women are caught in an endless quest for both the ultimate ever-adapting version of themselves and a daily satisfactory amount of social contact and confirmation.
She often paints women half naked – exposed and made vulnerable by all they’ve seen and projected onto themselves – with unshaven legs, in unflattering poses, chubby legs…. relentlessly comparing themselves to the images on their phone. A mixture of hope, feminism, obsession, apathy, superficiality and realness depicts today’s frantically confused zeitgeist. With her unique visual language, inspired by Japanese erotic block prints, Dubois nevertheless manages to use the countless ambiguities in her works for good. The naivety of the characters points to a dazed but persistent quest for human connection, some sort of authenticity and understanding. Dubois exposes harsh realities but manages to keep things light and hopeful even when they appear bleak and desperate, evoking a sense of compassion rather than cynicism.
In recent works, Dubois expands on the questions and struggles surrounding gender, identity, sexuality,… as explored and redefined by young people today, while using typical modern symbols and objects balancing between innocent props and key narrative clues.
She often paints women half naked – exposed and made vulnerable by all they’ve seen and projected onto themselves – with unshaven legs, in unflattering poses, chubby legs…. relentlessly comparing themselves to the images on their phone. When engaged in social events, even the most intimate, they’re never really there, but always there. A mixture of hope, feminism, obsession, apathy, superficiality and realness depicts today’s frantically confused zeitgeist. With her unique visual language, inspired by Japanese erotic block prints, Dubois nevertheless manages to use the countless ambiguities in her works for good. The naivety of the characters points to a dazed but persistent quest for human connection, some sort of authenticity and understanding. Dubois exposes harsh realities but manages to keep things light and hopeful even when they appear bleak and desperate, evoking a sense of compassion rather than cynicism.
She often paints women half naked – exposed and made vulnerable by all they’ve seen and projected onto themselves – with unshaven legs, in unflattering poses, chubby legs…. relentlessly comparing themselves to the images on their phone. A mixture of hope, feminism, obsession, apathy, superficiality and realness depicts today’s frantically confused zeitgeist. With her unique visual language, inspired by Japanese erotic block prints, Dubois nevertheless manages to use the countless ambiguities in her works for good. The naivety of the characters points to a dazed but persistent quest for human connection, some sort of authenticity and understanding. Dubois exposes harsh realities but manages to keep things light and hopeful even when they appear bleak and desperate, evoking a sense of compassion rather than cynicism.
In recent works, Dubois expands on the questions and struggles surrounding gender, identity, sexuality,… as explored and redefined by young people today, while using typical modern symbols and objects balancing between innocent props and key narrative clues.
She often paints women half naked – exposed and made vulnerable by all they’ve seen and projected onto themselves – with unshaven legs, in unflattering poses, chubby legs…. relentlessly comparing themselves to the images on their phone. When engaged in social events, even the most intimate, they’re never really there, but always there. A mixture of hope, feminism, obsession, apathy, superficiality and realness depicts today’s frantically confused zeitgeist. With her unique visual language, inspired by Japanese erotic block prints, Dubois nevertheless manages to use the countless ambiguities in her works for good. The naivety of the characters points to a dazed but persistent quest for human connection, some sort of authenticity and understanding. Dubois exposes harsh realities but manages to keep things light and hopeful even when they appear bleak and desperate, evoking a sense of compassion rather than cynicism.
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