Maïa & Hillel | Galerie Karine Meyer

Maia & Hillel

“Foreign Bodies Introduction”
From August 4 to 22, 2021

Hillel, born in 1996 in Tel Aviv, came to Paris when he was a child because his family is very attached to the city (his grandfather attended the Beaux-Arts courses and his mother assisted Claude Lanzmann on the editing of the Shoah movie).

Maïa, born in 1989 in Paris, would never have thought of setting foot in Israel one day, mainly for political and ethical reasons, the Palestinian territories still being occupied by Israel, but also because of many fears and prejudices.

The couple have lived between Europe and the Middle East for three years. Maïa is often "mistaken" as an Israeli while Hillel is often seen as a Scandinavian-looking tourist.

Such received ideas have contributed to their way of photographing themselves and playing with notions of strangeness and identity wherever they go, using their ambivalent facades as an asset to approach all types of people and situations with their camera. in hand.

As they built their relationship, they began to uncover and understand certain recurring patterns inherent in both of their families throughout history.

Like identity, which cannot be monolithic because it can undergo many subtle changes over the course of a lifetime, or immigration, travel and art, the means of expressing oneself, of taking a critical look at the world, to seek new horizons and, above all, to fight against egocentric conformism. Maïa and Hillel become an artist duo, Maïell.

They have since insisted on not revealing which of the two is taking a photo in order to blur the lines of gender, nationality and age. to fight against egocentric conformism. Maïa and Hillel become an artist duo, Maïell. They have since insisted on not revealing which of the two is taking a photo in order to blur the lines of gender, nationality and age. to fight against egocentric conformism.

Maïa and Hillel become an artist duo, Maïell. They have since insisted on not revealing which of the two is taking a photo in order to blur the lines of gender, nationality and age. They have found, through their common visual language, a way to feed themselves and thus become less foreign.