CATHERINE BALET

Graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Catherine Balet began her artistic career as a painter before moving to photography in the early 2000s.

Her photographic work then took on a sociological dimension. Her series of portraits of teenagers entitled “Identity” anchored her work in a contemporary reality. In “Strangers in the Light”, she integrated a pictorial dimension like paintings playing with chiaroscuro.

From 2013 to 2016, Catherine Balet worked on her series “Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes” in which she paid a vibrant tribute to the masters of photography featuring her friend and model, Ricardo Martinez Paz. From Nadar to contemporary trends, through Man Ray and Martin Parr, she has captured the history of photography, and looked for ways to reflect on its future.

With her series “Moods in a Room”, Catherine Balet continues her experimentation by reinvesting the technical transformations of the photographic medium and wonders about the border that separates painting from photography.

In her latest series, entitled “Endless”, Catherine Balet brilliantly blends imaginary to reality so to tame the infinite versatility of nature over the seasons. The series, as a true ode to life, is an invitation to embrace the ineluctable force of time.

EXHIBITIONS AT THE GALLERY

SOLO AND GROUP SHOWS

2023
”Chair de temps”, Bigaignon, Paris

2022
”Endless”, Bigaignon, Paris

2021
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse

2020
”Moods in a Room”, Photo London 2020, London
”Moods in a Room”, Bigaignon, Paris

2019
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Fola Fototeca Latinoamericana, Buenos Aires
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg
”United”, Bigaignon, Paris
”Art on a Postcard”, PhotoLondon, London

2018
Troisième biennale Beijing Photo, Beijing
”In Vivo ; From Earth With Love”, Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Groningen
”Amoureux”, Hôtel & Spa La Belle Juliette, Paris

2017
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Maison de la Photo, Lille
Festival du Portrait de Vichy, Vichy

2016
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Wroclaw 2016, Capitale culturelle européenne, Wroclaw
Dali International Photography Festival, China
« Wings of Fantasy », Beijing
”Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes”, Galerie Bigaignon, Paris

2015
Triennal of photography, Hamburg
Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Groningen
Encontros da Imagen, Braga
”On Paper”, Lucy Bell Gallery, St Leonards
”Strangers in the light”, Lichtungen, Hildesheim
”Identity”, Clervaux, Cité de l'image, Luxembourg
Bristol Photobook Festival, Bristol
National portrait Gallery, London
The House of St.Barnabas, London
Millennium Gallery Museum, Sheffield

2014
”#Snapshot”, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
Arte Laguna Prize, Venice
”Transition”, Y Gallery, Minsk

2013
”Les Contemplatives”, Espace 111, Paris

2012
”Strangers in the light”, Festival de la Luz, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Franklin Rawson, San Juan
”Strangers in the light”, Festival de la Luz, Alianza Francesa Sede Central, Buenos Aires
The World in London, Photographers Gallery, London
Art Paris, Art Fair, Paris
Madrid foto Art Fair, Madrid
”Strangers in the light”, Polka Galerie, Paris

2010
”Identity”, Global Photography, Mestre/Venice

2009
”Identity”, Global Photography, Si Fest Savignano Immagini Festival, Italia
”Identity”, Festival international de photographie, Seoul

2008
National Portrait Gallery Talk, London

2007
Biennale de photographie, Urbi et Orbi, Sedan
Voies Off, Arles
Galerie photo, FNAC forum‚ Paris

2006
”Identity”, Kindermuseum in FEZ, Berlin
Galerie Colette‚ Paris
”Air de Paris’”, Hermès, Paris

PUBLICATIONS

2020 Moods in a room, Ed. Dewi Lewis (photographies Catherine Balet, textes Fannie Escoulen)
2016 Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes, Ed. Dewis Lewis
2012 Strangers in the Light, Ed. Steidl
2006 Identity, Ed. Steidl

SELECTED ARTWORKS

VIDEOS