RIEN NE ME MANQUE

An exceptional inter-generational artistic dialogue is taking place at the Fine Arts Museum of Nîmes. The young painter Neïla Czermak Ichti is exhibiting alongside one of her favorite artists, Baya, an icon of Algerian painting who died in 1998, with about thirty of her gouaches from different periods gathered for the occasion. In response, Neïla Czermak Ichti has produced a new series of paintings and drawings. The installation highlights the techniques and subjects they have in common, including their love for vibrant colors, music and storytelling, as well as their depictions of infinite childhood, of women in different contexts and environments, and of worlds populated by strange chimeras and fantastical animals that are both companions and alter egos. The resulting dreamlike and immersive landscape allows for a fresh perspective on Baya’s work, which, in contact with the young artist, appears strange, melancholic, and complex. Contrary to the “joyful”, “naive”, and “wondrous” aspect with which she is still often associated. A mobile made up of a fantastic bestiary was also created by primary school students from Nîmes, accompanied by Neïla Czermak Ichti and echoing Baya’s universe, to keep the dream alive.