CHARLOTTE YONGA
Born in 1985 in Paris, France. She lives and works between Barcelone, Spain, and Paris, France.
The Franco-Cameroonian artist Charlotte Yonga takes a close look at individuals and territories. Her approach, impregnated with dramaturgy, inherits a certain documentary tradition and is permeated by questions linked to the notion of individuality subjected to delocalization and to North-South cross-views.
The subjects she depicts, mostly “ordinary” people captured in specific contexts, are central and confront the viewer. In an alchemy that realistically combines strength and fragility, Charlotte portrays tangible personalities in all their complexities.
Charlotte is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC). During her studies, she developed a particular interest in the portrait and progressively chose the photographic medium. Then, in an effort to shift the way she looks at her subjects, she explored the expressive qualities of other media, such as video and sound.
Charlotte has also been drawing for many years, an intimate work that she has shown very little. Her drawings, made with felt pens and coloured pencils, are “therapeutic sketches” and forms from the unconscious.
Her work has been shown at the Circulations Festival, Paris Photo at the Grand Palais, the Museum of Le Havre, M.Bassy Hamburg in Germany, the Project Space of the Casablanca Biennale in Morocco and the LagosPhoto Festival in Nigeria.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EXHIBITIONS
2023
Memoria : récits d'une autre histoire, National Museum of Yaoundé - CMR
Effet de Groupe, 31 PROJECT, Paris - FR
2022
ART-O-RAMA, 31 PROJECT, Marseille - FR
2021
On fait des dessins dans la terre, 31 PROJECT, Paris - FR
2019
Regards : Photographie camerounaise, Project Space of the International Biennale of Casablanca - MA
The Big Project, co-created with Lolita Bourdet, Montreuil - FR
2018
The Big Project, co-created with Lolita Bourdet, Centre Tignous d’Art Contemporain, Montreuil - FR
Twenty vignettes: On snails, still lifes and Home-cooked meals with Eva Barois De Caevel and Wura Natasha Ogunji, The Treehouse, Lagos – NG
Fast Forward Mentorship Programme – West Africa, research workshop on women photographers led by Anna Fox and Karen Knorr, Lagos - NG
LagosPhoto Festival, Curated by: Eva Barois De Caevel, Wunika Mukan, Charlotte Langhorst and Valentine Umansky, Lagos - NG
In Between Parties, Atelier Güell Pilar, Barcelona - ES
Identity–This Unfinished Conversation #01, with Nadine Hounkpatin, M.Bassy, Hambourg - DE
2017
Newwwar. It’s Just a Game ?, curated by Marion Zillio, Fondation Bandjoun Station - CM
Le Havre - Dakar : partager la mémoire, Muséum d’Histoire naturelle du Havre - FR
Comment tu danses, performance directed by Lucien Fradin, Médiathèque Les Lumières, Lapugnoy - FR
Carte Blanche Performances des artistes en CLÉA, Cité des Électriciens, Bruay-La-Buissière - FR
2013
Coups de coeur des experts, Bal Photobook week-end, Le Bal, Paris - FR
Taraxacum, Maison des Arts de Conches - FR
Une Caisse/une Œuvre, Théâtre de la Michodière, Paris – FR
2012
Beginners, projection « The Pretty Lady », Cinémathèque de Tanger - MA
Video Night #1, projection « The Pretty Lady », Le Cube, Rabat - MA
Festival Circulation(s), Parc de Bagatelle, Paris - FR
2011
Coups de cœur SFR Jeunes Talents, Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris - FR
4ème Biennale photographique de Conches – FR
R.I.P., Eglise Saint Julien, Les Rencontres d’Arles – FR
Festival MAP, sélection SFR Jeunes Talents, Toulouse - FR
Festival Vidéoformes, projection « Ku’tchub », Clermont-Ferrand – FR
Full Melt, solo show, Lobot Gallery, Oakland - USA
2010
Bande Annonce, La Conciergerie, Paris - FR
2009
Expo Tempo, Le Carreau, Cergy - FR
EDUCATION
2010
DNSEP with congratulations of the jury – ENSAPC, Paris-Cergy - FR
2008
DNAP avec Mention - ENSAPC, Paris-Cergy - FR
WITH 31 PROJECT
EXHIBITIONS
2023
Effet de Groupe, group show, Paris - FR
2021
On fait des dessins dans la terre, group show, Paris - FR
FAIRS
2022
ART-O-RAMA, group show, Marseille - FR