Vies de bêtes, exposition d'Éléonore Saintagnan

By exploring forgotten or marginal stories, she doesn’t simply retell stories: she reveals what remains unresolved within us, suspended between belief and reason, memory and invention. By interweaving documentary and storytelling together, her works unveil a shifting reality where viewers recognize the uncanny within themselves. The doubt she instills does not arise from a distancing effect, but from a troubling proximity. Her art pushes us to ask: how do our imaginations shape our perception of reality?

For her exhibition, Vies de bêtes, at Passage Sainte-Croix, the artist explores the cohabitation between man and animal. Whether it’s a giant fish at the bottom of a dried-up lake, a nomadic parrot, or a family of hippos on the run, Saintagnan’s animals summon narratives that reconnect us to a nature that is celebrated at times, and exploited by man at others. These animal sculptures, which come to life in her films, are sanctified here and presented like relics, and tangible traces of a past life. Though tinged with the fantastic, these reimagined stories are rooted in reality and shine a light on today’s major socio-ecological concerns.