Joël Andrianomearisoa

“Black is amazing, disturbing, but it is present and makes sense everywhere”

“My mind and my art they art together, but my life and my art is different”

“Perhaps I’m very emotional and you can feel this in the work”

“You never decide to become an artist”

“When you decide to be an artist, there isn’t always a message behind it”

“I’m still questioning myself and the world. Why is the continent is still divided in two parts like this? The Anglophone parts are more economically developed, and the Francophone parts are more complicated. It’s very interesting when you see all the flight maps and schedules. You see all the flights from Addis Ababa, from Angola, even from South Africa, going to New York, Paris, and Thailand”

“When I’m using black it’s not just a colour. Among this idea of black, there are a lot of things from the Black Portraitures, from the black colour, from the black system, from the black market. So it’s a heavy statement on black which depends on the culture and on the context too.”

“When you visit Madagascar, people are expecting something very African — but we have connections with countries like India, China, and Thailand”

“In the studio with… Joël Andrianomearisoa 17 October 2022”

“Everything is possible in the studio – it’s a place where you can do almost anything”

“I think I’m probably the strangest thing in the studio”

“I’m definitely not the most minimal person in the world. I like to be surrounded by a lot of different things because inspiration can come from anywhere – a fragrance, a flower, a cigarette”

“My work is not autobiographical – it’s not about me – but I cannot separate myself completely”

“Challenge brings satisfaction, and sometimes, deception”

“I’m not a multidisciplinary artist – I’m just very curious about everything”

“As an artist, I love discovering something during the process”

“We need to dream together to shape a better future together. Without dreams, we can’t imagine what is coming next and how we want to influence it. Together we never forget who we are”

“It’s always fascinating to create a dialogue with an artwork, it can agitate us or stir us up”

“I won’t draw a limit between fantasy and the real world”

“If I decide to set limits it’d mean that this sentimental journey that I aspire to will have an end”