Bio [EN]
Born in 1985 in Beirut, Carine Bovey is an artist based in Geneva. In her work, she explores femininity from societal, intimate and identity angles. She questions the image of women, whether through the lens of the consumer society, through their own eyes or that of others. She also seeks to offer her own vision of femininity, an open-ended vision of all taboos, playing with clichés and openly assuming sexual freedom.
She wants women to enjoy seducing others, but above all, that they please themselves. The main thing is that they have the choice to dispose of their bodies as they see fit. The artist also aims at blowing up the prohibitions that still exist around woman’s body. The tendencies to hide their bodies worry her. Doesn’t breast milk, the first food of humanity, come from the breast?
A new hopeful feminism
Contrary to what is often imagined by a feminist, Carine Bovey does not want to come into conflict with the male sex, on the contrary, she claims the right to be attractive and feminine. She is one of women who consider men those as their allies. The artist is part of a joyful, hopeful feminism that celebrates love and freedom. The freedom of women to dress as they wish, to walk the in street without being attacked or to hang together with who ever they want.
Reclaiming female eroticism
In this spirit, the artist highlights sensuality and eroticism through the eyes of a woman, although it is substantially similar to that of a man. The difference is especially felt in the choice of colors, this pink lighting, which we find in most of her works. Likewise, the blurred effects used to give softness and modesty to the most intimate images. In her erotic works, the artist make a point in ensuring that the image remains beautiful and attractive, the goal not to shock, but to make the vision acceptable, soft and desirable.
The mirror of our society
Carine Bovey draws her inspiration above all from the world around her. Her works reflect the shortcomings and the beauty of contemporary society. Having worked alongside with her art for 15 years in press and advertising, the artist is well versed in the luxury, watchmaking and fashion industries. It is through this that she became interested in the importance of objects in our daily life but also in the influence that they exert on us. It is interesting to observe how a product or an application can influence our behavior, sometimes create new dependencies.
Desire and Pleasure are key words in Carine’s work: desire to please, desire to please herself, pleasure to be desired… These are the goals for which many products are acquired, but it also comes from a certain social pressure. The artist likes to sublimate the relationship that a person has with an object. The pleasure experienced during its purchase, the pleasure of collecting and contemplating it, but also the impression we feel when we imagine that the object will give us more recognition or embellish us.
The artist is also interested in the influence of social networks, the way in which algorithms define us based on our actions. Indeed, these robots sometimes do the same work as an advertiser to determine our purchase intentions.
Finally, Carine Bovey also questions censorship and what determines whether an image is acceptable on social networks such as Facebook or Instagram. Having always been intrigued by disturbing images, the artist is afraid of finding herself in a smooth world where one would like to hide the ugly, the suffering and the truth at all costs.