"BEAUTIFUL PARADOX" GUIDED VISIT, BY CURATOR SARA CATALÁN

This guided visit is an opportunity to delve into the work of William Keo through the eyes of the chief curator, Sara Catalán. She will provide context, answer questions, and facilitate meaningful conversations about Keo’s themes of interest and artistic approach.

Beautiful Paradox is a curated selection from William Keo‘s personal project, documenting the complexities of daily life in his neighborhood on the outskirts of Paris. From The Over, we presented it at last year’s edition of the Art Photo Barcelona Festival at Disseny Hub. Now, it is an honor to be able to showcase and share William Keo’s work in our gallery, where it will be exhibited from April 6th to July 6th, 2024.

William Keo is a French-Cambodian photographer based in Paris. His work focuses on stories related to his family history and their refugee past; migration, social exclusion and inter-community intolerance. Of this project, the artist tells us:

“The location of the Olympic Games is never a coincidence, and in 2024 they will take place in the poorest region of France, Seine-Saint-Denis, district 93, where I live. For years, I have been chronically documenting the social and cultural structuring of this neighborhood, considered by researchers to be the “Observatoire of inequalities”, such is the extent to which social violence is exacerbated there.

The arrival of this event is already transforming the area, and the first signs are that the state is trying to pacify the region by moving immigrant populations to other districts further away. Poverty, demonstrations against police violence, riots, the police, drug trafficking, prisons, hospitals, immigration, subculture and youth, are the chapters that make up this project.

This curated selection of my overall “Hostile” project will paint a portrait of a youth with multiple identities, from third-generation immigrants to gentrification, on the eve of the Olympic Games that will impact and transform the area forever.”