From the mysterious 16th-century painting Gabrielle d’Estrées and One of Her Sisters to the pop-baroque theatrics of Pierre & Gilles, portraiture has long held a privileged place in the Western canon – especially in France. Bound by formal codes – precise framing, fidelity to the subject, a rich symbolism embedded in every gesture – the genre nonetheless continues to offer contemporary artists opportunities to express themselves in vivid and novel ways. On the occasion of ‘Les yeux dans les yeux’ – a newly opened exhibition at the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes, featuring over 90 works devoted to the portrait – Art Basel turns the spotlight on six young Francophone artists whose distinctive approaches refresh our understanding of this enduring form.

Rayane Mcirdi (b. 1993, Asnières-sur-Seine, France)

How does one name this territory that is our home yet remains elsewhere? It is precisely within this in-between space, in the interstices between the illusion of belonging and the reality of uprooting, that the work of Rayane Mcirdi takes shape.

Through videos that blend personal archives, oral narratives, and poetic staging, Mcirdi explores the memory of the Algerian diaspora, familial transmission, and an identity in perpetual motion, nourished by the relationships he maintains with others. Situated between ethnographic documentary, autofiction, and tender homage to the figures who surround him, he gives voice and body back to those whose stories remain too often invisible, sketching an intimate and multifaceted portrait of his family and social circle.

By layering different temporalities – those of myth and daily life – Mcirdi composes a living memory, always in the process of rewriting itself. Whether through his recollections of his aunts in Le Jardin (2021), the popular myths reinterpreted in Le Bord de I’Oise (2022), or the poetic fictions of La Légende d’Y.Z. (2016-2017), he scrutinizes our relationship to narrative, language, and descent.

Alireza Shojaian (b. 1988, Tehran)

Forced to flee his homeland because his works address homosexuality and Queer identity – themes forbidden by the Iranian regime – Alireza Shojaian found refuge in Lebanon before obtaining political asylum in France in 2019. The nude or partially clothed bodies he draws –  at once vulnerable and poetic – become spaces of resistance and freedom.

In his latest exhibition at Bendana-Pinel, Paris, he summons two powerful figures: the white demon from Shahnameh (977–1010 CE), the foundational epic of Persian literature, known in English as the ‘Book of Kings’, and the burning tree, a recurring motif in ancient mythology. While Iranian literary tradition celebrates only heterosexual heroes, Shojaian deconstructs this normative vision to allow other voices to emerge. Persian miniatures become the voices of collective memory, of a culture that refuses to remain silent, even when exiled. In 2022, Shojaian received the Václav Havel Creative Dissent Award for his PaykanArtCar project, for which he transformed a car gifted by the former Shah of Iran to the late Romanian Communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, in a work that sought to shed light on human rights issues in Iran.

Inès di Folco Jemni (b. 1993, Paris)

The French-Tunisian artist Inès di Folco Jemni takes inspiration from dreams, past lives, and myths. Through painting, she initiates spiritual and oneiric journeys, encouraging us to reconsider notions of exile and femininity through ritual and ceremonial practices. Her canvases are nourished by her travels and her memories.

The artist rebels against Western aesthetics by developing an original pictorial lexicon. Carrying a decolonial message, she tells forgotten stories, particularly those linked to slavery and marronage, or escape. Her works break free from traditional supports through large suspended canvases, evoking doorways into her interior universe. She also incorporates unexpected materials, such as glitter and raw pigments, creating an organic laboratory where each element finds new life.

Omar Victor Diop (b. 1980, Dakar)

Omar Victor Diop is a Senegalese photographer who is a key player on the contemporary African scene. In 2011, he left his position at British American Tobacco Africa to dedicate himself to photography. He first made his mark at the Rencontres de Bamako, the biennial of African photography.

His work combines plastic arts, fashion, and photographic portraiture. Integrating styling and writing he explores a variety of themes through different series: ‘Le Futur du Beau’ (2011) questions beauty standards by dressing his models in waste materials; ‘The Studio of Vanities’ (2012-2015) celebrates a creative African generation; ‘Diaspora’ (2014) revisits historical African portraits; ‘Liberty’ (2016-2017) pays homage to the struggles for freedom of Black populations; and ‘Allégoria’ (2021) addresses the environmental challenges faced by the continent.

Diop’s work tells a complete story, both anchored in his historical heritage and profoundly connected to the present. He celebrates his roots while bearing witness to the resilience and constant evolution of his people.

Nanténé Traoré (b. 1993, Paris)

A graduate of the École des beaux-arts de Nantes, Nanténé Traoré has developed a practice blending photography and writing, straddling intimate documentary and fiction. His works, often inhabited by bodies in movement – undisciplined and fluid – explore the tensions between presence and absence, between what remains and what is missing. He repeats gestures, words, and images as a form of narration to resist forgetting and preserve what is intimate, precious, and fragile.

In his photographs as in his texts, Traoré seeks to achieve a form of emotional sincerity via a poetic gaze. Inspired by photographer Peter Hujar, he constructs a sensitive iconography made of narratives of tenderness, transmission, and freedom. He also captures portraits of Queer people going about their daily lives, adopting a respectful and sincere approach.

Maty Biayenda (b. 1998, Namibia)

Passionate about drawing since adolescence, Maty Biayenda first trained at the École d’Art du GrandAngoulême, then at the Ateliers de Sèvres in Paris before obtaining a degree in textile and material design from the École des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. The work of this French-Congolese artist, explores multiple identities and the marginalized memories of African diasporas in European contexts. She uses a great diversity of mediums, ranging from painting and tapestry to photography, illustration, and textiles. Drawing from family archives, historical documents, and forgotten icons, Biayenda constructs personal narratives inspired by her Congolese heritage and her experience as a trans person.

She questions the often voyeuristic and theatrical representations of these marginalized figures, seeking both to rehabilitate them and to deconstruct clichés. Her work pays homage to Queer and racialized figures, such as Mary Jones and Caribbean drag artists, while also revisiting historical motifs like Toile de Jouy and the medieval La Dame à la licorne tapestries. Between fiction and reality, her works thus become a space where characters dialogue with the artist's lived experience, allowing a personal mythology to unfold.