Raphaël Barontini

Mariane Ibrahim Gallery (represented artist)

Raphaël Barontini (b. 1984; Saint-Denis, France; lives and works in Paris) is uninterested in confining his work to contemporary political discourse, instead finding inspiration in paying homage to the legacies set by figures of historical movements for liberation. In a style of collage combining photography, silk screen printing, painting, and digital prints, Barontini toes the line between functionality and ornamentation, to offer an altered guise of history. Flags, banners, tapestries, and ceremonial capes are superimposed to create large scénographies that provoke questions of labor and production. For Barontini, challenging the canon of postcolonial history surrounding cultures and territories that have experienced slavery or colonization remains priority. His work establishes a “counter-history” through the depiction of heroes, both real and imaginary, in replacement of White colonial leaders. Raphaël Barontini’s work has been exhibited in institutions around the world, including the SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, USA), MAC VAL (Vitry-sur-Seine, France), MO.CO (Montpellier, France), Museum of African Diaspora (San Francisco, USA), The New Art Exchange Museum (Nottingham, UK) and Museum of Arts and Design (New York, USA). He has also participated in the international biennials of Bamako, Mali, Casablanca, Morocco, Lima, Peru, and Thessaloniki, Greece. In 2020, he was chosen by LVMH Métiers d’Art to complete a residency in Singapore. Barontini is the forthcoming Artist in Residence at Villa Albertine, New Orleans.