Collection: Bois de Boulogne

In her new exhibition, featuring brand new works, Willys Kezi Niangi shares her personal impressions of the trans* sex work scene in Paris's Bois de Boulogne park.

"It was quite by chance that I chose to take an interest in this minority, who are increasingly present in the media and who today, more than in the past, fully assume their status. Then I wanted to discover more and more about the world of these little-understood and often stigmatised people", explains Kezi.

The artist's verve for social criticism is immediately recognisable in the silhouettes of women and scenes of everyday life, set in Kinshasa, Kezi's homeland, or in Paris, where she now works. For several years she has been exploring the artistic expression of seduction and its intersection with neo-colonialism, racism and sexual violence.

At first sight crude, Kezi's paintings introduce us with tenderness and humour to a world that places the spotlight on femininity in all its forms, and on women as powerful and complex beings who deserve to be celebrated in art.