Based in Brussels, this former artistic director for record companies works to promote black photographers of the “new wave”. Polished images that she presents with her virtual gallery and the magazine Nataalof which she is the creative director.
The work of this photography enthusiast is beginning to show. It appears in large, in London, to announce the opening on June 29 from Africa Fashion, an exhibition on African fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Marie Gomis-Trezise, gallery owner in Brussels and creative director of the art and culture magazine Nataal (“abundance” in Fulani), based in London, explains that the curator of the exhibition, Christine Checinska, the first black woman at the helm of a major event in this great museum, asked her publication for a photo shoot for the expo – as well as a short film. A token of recognition for Nataal, launched in 2015, which promotes a new wave of African and Diaspora talent. ” The images are so good that they were used for the exhibition’s publicity campaign! What a joy to see them on the underground in London ! “.
This go-getter was born and raised in Marseille. From Marseille, which remains one of her “bases”, she has lost her accent, except to say certain words. In the late 1980s, she became an au pair in England, then landed a holiday job in Monaco, where she was hired as a secretary. In full explosion of the FM band, one of her colleagues presents her on the radio where she is a presenter. Here she is scouring concerts on the coast and interviewing artists, including Lenny Kravitz, in English. ” It wasn’t paid, but it was fun. When I lost my job in Monaco, I said to myself: go to Paris and work in music. »
The rungs climbed four by four
Of which act. She started as a secretary at BMG, a “major”, and quickly rose through the ranks to become artistic director of Vogue Records, a small label from the 1960s in four years. ” We brought back a catalog of Drum & Bass, nobody knew anything about it in France “. She then goes to Columbia Records, signs big names like DJ Cam and Stomy Bugsy, but begins to get bored.
New radical choice in his career: back to square one, in England. ” I was fed up with big labels and Paris. I wanted to be with my husband, who is English. Everything that interested me happened in London “. She left in 2000, continued in music until 2006 – and left this sector because of her rhythm, which no longer suited her with two young children. ” I became a massage therapist. I was always told that I did it well. My mother is from Casamance and in our ethnic group [les Diolas; Ndlr]we have this know-how “. She works as a free lance in her “bobo” neighborhood of Crouch End, between Finnsbury Park and Highgate. Word of mouth works, she goes from studios to hotels, or to ” the people “, often music and film celebrities, with his massage table.
From music to photography
In 2008, in the midst of the financial crisis, she and her husband decided to settle in Brussels, to find a better quality of life in the heart of Europe. She puts one foot back in the stirrup in music, which quickly leads her to… photography. ” My experience in music production and developing an image for artists brought me to know a good network of photographers and music video directors. I love the photo, I had followers on Tumbler and Pinterest, everyone told me I had a good eye “.
His companion encouraged him to set up a gallery, to the point of taking him a plane ticket to Senegal in 2015, recommending that he take action. ” I hadn’t been there since childhood! I surprisingly felt at home instantly. This trip opened my eyes to what I wanted to show: people from the diaspora who share the same experiences as me, this questioning of identity, of belonging. I wanted conversations about this topic “.
A virtual gallery in Brussels
In 2019, it launched the Gallery Number 8, virtual, which sells on the Artsy website, exhibits at contemporary art fairs in Europe and festivals such as Vogue Italia. Determined to show a different aesthetic, she notably spotted Campbell Addy, a 30-year-old Londoner of Ghanaian origin, before he made a name for himself in fashion photography. Other artist she signed, after discovering him online on Flickr: David UzochukwuAustrian and Nigerian, a 24-year-old genius whom she admires “ imagination, fantasy and the ability to dream “. One of his pictures, Wildfire, is the biggest success of the gallery.
” There is a resilience in this photo that touches me, melancholy, explains Marie Gomis-Trezise. This warrior seems to come out of a battlefield, with ashes on her clothes, which I interpret as a victory. She is recovering and not suffering “. Another striking image for her, that of Djeneba Aduayumpresented in an anthology opening at the Maison Rouge in the off of the 2018 Dakar Biennale. It earned him a compliment from the great Ghanaian visual artist El Anatsui: “ the most beautiful thing that he saw at Dak’Art.
When asked why it is still important, in 2022, to change the narrative on “Afropaeans”, she replies calmly: “ Before the whole post-colonial scene of studio artists, we were mostly objectified as black people. Today, our own gaze prevails to say who we are and what we feel, with another very free generation – freed from the diktats that our parents could impose on us – which also gives a representation of its time. »
Marie Gomis-Trezise, who does not lack flair, believes that ” Paris is in full awakening, with a real scene of diasporic artists, a mix even in the clubs, a little cooler than in my time, and more diversity in the creative industries”. A next step, perhaps.