Lili Reynaud-Dewar

Lili Reynaud-Dewar, born in 1975 in La Rochelle, France, is a contemporary installation and performance artist whose work challenges societal norms around identity, race, gender, and the body. Her practice blends elements of dance, text, and video, often performed within immersive environments she creates, making her a key figure in performance-based art. Reynaud-Dewar is known for incorporating her own body into her work, sometimes painting herself or engaging in choreographed movements in site-specific installations that confront the politics of representation.Her art is deeply influenced by cultural and historical references, drawing from movements such as modernism, as well as from the writings of figures like Frantz Fanon and Sun Ra. By doing so, she explores how these ideas intersect with contemporary issues of identity and race, using her performances to question the boundaries between the public and the private. One of her well-known projects, I Am Intact and I Don’t Care (2013), involves Reynaud-Dewar dancing naked, covered in body paint, in various cultural institutions, addressing the alienation and marginalization felt by individuals in spaces of power and prestige.Reynaud-Dewar’s work also frequently incorporates text, often written by her or quoted from influential thinkers, which is either performed or displayed within her installations. These texts add a layer of critical analysis to her visual and performative works, deepening the viewer’s engagement with the complex topics she addresses. Her multidisciplinary approach allows her to navigate between art, activism, and personal narrative, creating a dialogue about identity politics and institutional critique.Lili Reynaud-Dewar has exhibited her work internationally at prestigious venues such as the Venice Biennale, the New Museum in New York, and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Her art continues to provoke thought and engage audiences with its bold interrogation of how cultural institutions and societal structures shape and reflect issues of race, gender, and identity in contemporary life. Through her dynamic performances and installations, Reynaud-Dewar challenges the viewer to question ingrained social norms and the way art can act as a medium for critical discourse.