Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc
Born 1977, Paris (French Guyana)
Lives in Sète, France
Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc devotes his focus to the cultural hegemonies upon which the evolution of contemporary societies is based. Through video, photography, installations, drawing, or exhibition projects, he explores the principles behind the dominant presence of pre-existing elements and events - notably those linked to imperial history and the colonies of so-called 'developed' countries. Many objects constitute a collective memory in which the universal principle has been tested for more than a century ago. Each of these elements needs to be constantly renegotiated in order to discover contemporary conflicts, vis-à-vis the construction of an identity, a community, a nation, and allow for the time to reinvent artistic and political action.
Solo exhibitions
2018
Marcelle Alix, Paris, FR, Fossile et psyché
Fundacion Jumex, Mexico D.F., MX, Concerning solitude
Musée départemental d'art contemporain, Rochechouart, FR, Le palais du Paon
Kunstforum la Baloise, Basel, CH, Vieux Wacapou
2017
Guyane Art Factory, Cayenne, FR, Maintenir la distance
2016
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, DE, Mefloquine Dreams
2015
Art Basel - Statement, CH (with Marcelle Alix)
Marcelle Alix, Paris, FR, Chimen chyen
2014
Kiosk, Ghent, BE, L'oeil se noie (with Eric Baudelaire)
Images Festival, Toronto, CA, Cinéma chez les Balantes
2013
Kunsthalle Basel, CH, Songs for a mad king
Bielefelder Kunstverein, DE, Kannibalen
2012
Fondation Serralves, Porto, To Whom who Keeps a Record (cur. Ricardo Nicolau)
Pavilion, Leeds, An Italian Film (Africa Addio)
2011
La Ferme du Buisson, Noisiel, Orphelins de Fanon (cur. Julie Pellegrin)
Marcelle Alix, Paris, A minor sense of didacticism
Gasworks, London, Foreword to Guns for Banta (cur. Anna Colin)
2008
Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, The known world
De Expeditie, Amsterdam, A prey made of space and shadow
2006
Tripode, Rezé, This place that holds us
Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, To repel ghosts
Selected group exhibitions
2020
XC.HuA Gallery, Berlin, DE, A year without the Southern Sun
2019
Galerie Marcelle Alix, Paris, FR, Marcelle Alix ouverte
Casa Barragan, Mexico, MX, Emissaries for Things Abandoned by Gods
Serralves Foundation, Porto, PT, Voyage to the beginning and back
MOCO - Montepellier Contemporain, FR, 100 artistes dans la ville - ZAT
2018
Frac Grand Large Hauts-de-France, Dunkerque, FR, Que fut 1848 ?
Hunter East Harlem Gallery, New York, USA, Dust Specks on the sea
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, PL, Niepodlegle Women and National Discourse
Marta Herford Museum for Art, DE, Volatile Dreams - Art of the World's Fair
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA, Stories of Almost Everyone
2017
Villa Médicis, Rome, IT, Swimming is saving (cur. Chiara Parisi)
Stevenson Gallery, Capetown, ZA, The New Parthenon
Rond-Point Projects, Marseille, FR, The exposed suture
Jiwa: Jakarta Biennale, Jakarta, ID
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, ES, A Thousand Roaring Beasts: Display Devices for a Critical Modernity
Leopold Museum,Vienna, AT, The Conundrum of Imagination (cur. Bonaventure Ndikung)
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, FR, Medusa (cur. Anne Dressen)
National Gallery, Sofia, BG, Palais Potemkine (cur. Emile Ouroumov)
MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, FR, Tous des sang-mêlés (cur. Julie Crenn et Frank Lamy)
Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, CO, Los Multinaturalistas (cur. Natalia Valencia)
2016
Parc Saint-Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, FR, Economie de la tension (cur. Emile Ouroumov)
Sargent's Daughters, New York, US (with Ektor Garcia)
Temporary Gallery, Köln, DE, Between one time and another
2015
56th Venice Biennale - International exhibition, IT, All the world's futures (cur. Okwui Enwezor)
56th Venice Biennale - Belgian Pavillon, Personne et les autres (cur. Katerina Gregos)
Centre Pompidou Metz, FR, Leiris & Co (cur. Marie-Laure Bernadac)
CAPC Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, FR, Ce qui ne sert pas s'oublie (cur. Catalina Lozano)
BJCEM, Milan, IT, Through the Barricades
Frac Aquitaine, Bordeaux, FR, L'Afrique dans la collection du Frac
MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, FR, L'Effet Vertigo
Kiev Biennale, UA, The School of Kyiv (cur. Hedwig Saxenhuberg & Georg Schöllamer)
2014
Museion, Bolzano, IT, Soleil Politique (cur. Pierre Bal-Blanc)
Museu da Republica - Galeria do Lago, Rio de Janeiro, BR, RE:Publica
8th Berlin Biennale (cur. Juan Gaitan)
L'Iselp, Brussels, BE, Archives/déplier l'histoire
Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid, ES, PER/FORM (cur. Chantal Pontbriand)
Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK, AV Festival
Kino Palais, Buenos Aires, AR, A Possibilidade de Tudo - film festival
2013
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Nouvelles impressions de Raymond Roussel (cur. François Piron)
MUDAM, Luxemburg, L'image papillon (cur. Christophe Gallois)
Circus, Berlin, At the Outset (cur. Katarina Zdjelar)
Galerie Andreas Henningsen, Copenhagen, DK, The Things we know (cur. Tim Saltarelli)
Khiasma, Les Lilas, FR, Rendez-vous: sortie de mon corps
MAC Marseille, FR, Le pont
Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK, Anguish and Enthusiasm: What Do You Do With Your Revolution Once You've Got it (cur. Declan Clarck and Sara Perks)
Institut Français des Pays-Bas, Maison Descartes, Amsterdam, NL, Ce lieu n'est pas la maison de Descartes (cur. Karima Boudou)
2012
ENSBA, Lyon, FR, Tricontinental, une étude graphique
La Triennale, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (cur. Okwui Enwezor)
14th Prix Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris, Evocateur (cur. Elena Filipovic)
ICA- Institute of contemporary art, University of Pennsylvania, Living document/Naked Reality, Toward an archival cinema (cur. Jennifer R. Burris)
Biennale de Rennes, Les Prairies (cur. Anne Bonnin)
Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris, The mystery spot, (cur. Marc Bembekoff)
L'Atelier Rouart, Paris, The Hidden Mother (cur. Estelle Bénazet & Sinziana Ravini)
2011
Ecole supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris, 2001-2011 Soudain, Déjà (cur. Guillaume Désanges)
Castillo/ Corrales, Paris, The Best Society
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Microstoria
Maritime Museum, Barcelona, Hidrarquia, with Uriel Orlow, Mati Diop, Laura Horelli and Anja Kirschner (cur. Anna Colin)
Montehermoso, Vitoria, Terra de Nadie (cur. Catalina Lozano)
Marcelle Alix, Paris, Nothing Personal
Hilary Crisp gallery, London, An extended exhibition for a transition function
2010
Manifesta 8, Murcia (cur. Tranzit)
Maronnage Biennal, Matoury, French Guyana (cur. David Redon)
Le Plateau - FRAC Ile-de-France, Paris, Erudition concrète III (cur. Guillaume Désanges)
Gasworks, London, Hydrarchy (cur. Anna Colin)
Museum of modern Art, Paris, Seconde Main (cur. Anne Dressen)
2009
FRAC Lorraine, Metz, A contre-corps, oeuvre de dévoration (cur. Béatrice Josse)
Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, Kréyol Factory
Rennes school of fine arts, Détruire, disent-ils, (cur. Patrice Joly)
2008
FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier, La dégelée Rabelais (cur. Emmanuel Latreille)
Sheung Wan Civic Center, Hong-Kong, Where the lions are (cur. François Piron)
Museum of Modern Art, Croce, Nostalgie, l'istante e la durata del tempo (cur. Angela Madesani)
Künstlerhaus FRIZE, Hamburg, Noce d'or, with Marion Mahu
2007
Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse with Marion Mahu
Korean National University of Art, Seoul, Double Take (cur. Tony Brown)
La Galerie, Noisy-le-Sec, Expéditions (cur. Marianne Lanavère)
Curatorial projects
2019
Mécènes du Sud Montpellier-Sète, Montpellier, FR, Mais il y a ce lieu, qui nous maintient
2010
La synagogue de Delme-Contemporary Art Center, Self as disappearance
Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, Through a circle of looks
Lectures / performances / Screening
2019
Sesc, Sao Paulo, BR, Ca va, ça va on continue in De Africas e diasporas. Cinema de memoria, cinema de luta.
Arthotèque de St-Denis, La Réunion, FR, The Night Readers in Vents de l'Est/Vent du Sud. Mouvement d'images et de révoltes.
Culturgest, Lisbonne, PT, Préface à Des fusils pour Banta in Reimaginar o arquivo pos-colonial
Mémorial Acte, Guadeloupe, FR, Wacapou, Un prologue ou une pièce dans la maison de ma mère in Festival du film des Droits de l'Homme-Monde en vue
Rencontres photographiques de Guyane, Cayenne, FR, The Night Readers & Wacapou, Un prologue ou Une pièce dans la maison de ma mère
German Historical Museum, Berlin, DE, Secteur IX B in Translocations, Zughauskino
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, ES, Sarah Maldoror, poeta y cineasta de la negritude
2018
38e Festival International du Film d'Amiens, Amiens, FR, The Night readers
Caixa, Africa(s), Cinema e Memoria em construçao, Rio de Janiero, BRA, Ca va, ça va on continue et Préface à Des fusils pour Banta
Musée départemental Albert-Khan, FR, Exposer le cinéma
Notthingam Contemporary, UK, Cinema and the Anticolonial Liberation Struggles
Maison Max Weber, Université Paris Nanterre, FR, Réception et usages des valorisations d'archives ou de collections ethnographiques
Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, FR, L'échelle Secrète, carte blanche à Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc
Mumok, Vienne, AT, From the Shores to the Reefs
Lafayette Anticipations, Paris, FR, Secteur IX B
Bandits-Mages, Bourges, FR, Constellation 68
Biennale de Dakar, SN, Une nouvelle humanité
Le Cinéma du Réel, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, The Night Readers
2017
Temporary Gallery, Cologne, DE, Disturbing Objects, Disquiet Objects. Going Beyond Classificatory Certainties. Matter in Process. Erasures and Resurgences.
Mucem, Marseille, La position du chercheur. rencontres interdisciplinées : arts et sciences sociales
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL, Conceptualism -Intersectional Readings, International Framings. Black Artists and Modernism in Europe after 1968
2016
Caixa Belas Artes, Africa(s), Cinema e Revoluçao, São Paulo, BR, Foreword to Guns for Banta, Ça va, ça va, on continue, An Italian Film
Tabakalera, Centro Internacional de Cultura Contemporeana, San Sébastian, ES, Foreword to Guns for Banta
UNdocumenta, Gwangju, KR, Foreword to Guns for Banta
Copenhagen Architecture Festival, DK, Sector IX B
Les rencontres internationales,Paris, FR, Sector IX B
2015
Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, SW, The Eros Effect: Art, Solidarity Movements, and the Struggle for Social Justice, Concerning Solitude (lecture)
Pavillon, Leeds, UK, Time after Time (Sector IX B, An Italian Film)
Quinzaine de l'art vidéo, Cayenne, Guyane FR, Sector IX B
TIFF, Toronto, CA, Sector IX B
Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR, Sector IX B
Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, LIT, Ca va, ça va, on continue
Tate Modern, London, UK, Sector IX B
ICA, London, UK, Foreword to Guns for Banta, Ça va, ça va, on continue, An Italian Film
Beyond the Magiciens Effect, Les laboratoires d'Aubervilliers, the fear of incest, the fear of insect (lecture)
2014
John Jones Project Space, London, UK, A day of artists' film, performance and discussion on the Algerian experience
2012
Pavillon, Leeds Art Gallery, UK, Have camera, will travel (lecture)
ICA, Institute of contemporary art, University of Pennsylvania, USA, Foreword to Guns for Banta
2011
Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, within the seminar organized by Bétonsalon sous le ciel libre de l'histoire,Foreword to Guns for Banta (lecture)
Gasworks, London Residency Artists' Talk with André Guedes, Umesh Kumar
Montehermoso, Vitoria, Terra de Nadie, Dialogue with the director Sarah Maldoror
2010
Palais de Tokyo, Paris, MUD Orchestra, with Charlie Jeffery
La Ferme du buisson art center Noisiel, MUD Orchestra, with Charlie Jeffery
2009
Genevilliers School of fine arts, MUD Orchestra, with Charlie Jeffery
La synagogue de Delme-Contemporary art center, The Reflecting Skin.
Centre d'Art du Parc St-Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, The Pugilist, with A&F Lamarche-Ovize
Residencies / workshops
2019/2020
DAAD Berlin, DE
2016/2017
French Academy, Villa Medici, Rome, IT
2013
Camp de la transportation, St-Laurent du Maroni, GY
2012
Fondation Serralves, Porto, PT
2011
Gasworks, London, UK, The Middle Passage workshops, collaborative workshops with Albert Potrony and Howard Matthew
2009/2010
Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris
2009
Residency at La Synagogue de Delme-Contemporary art centre, Lindre-Basse
2008
National Institute of Design of Ahmedabad, India
Le 75-school of photography, Brussels
Muntztrasse 10, Berlin
2007
Korean National University of Arts, Sejul
Muntztrasse 10, Berlin
2006
Synapse, Rueil-Malmaison school of fine arts
Grants / awards
2015
Baloise Art Prize
2014
OCAD University Offscreen Award, Toronto, CA
2012
Grant from FNAGP, Paris
2011
Le Meurice Award, Paris
2010
CNAP Reasearch Grant, Paris
2009
