Since the late 1950s, Hervé Télémaque has created a vast body of work with a distinctive visual vocabulary, characterized by abstract gestures, cartoon-like imagery and mixed-media compositions. Through paintings, drawings, collages, objects and assemblages, he strikingly combines historical and literary references with those of popular culture and consumerism. Incorporating images and experiences from his daily life, the artist's extensive oeuvres links the realms of inner consciousness, social experience and the complex relationship between image and language.
Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1937, Télémaque moves to New York in 1957, and enters an art scene dominated by abstract expressionism. In 1961, he settles permanently in Paris, where he frequents the Surrealists, then co-founds the "Figuration Narrative" movement in France with other artists. Reacting to the dominant trend of abstract art and the development of the Pop art movement in North America, Télémaque's “Figuration Narrative” often resulted in works with a Pop sensibility that incorporated consumer objects and signs. The artist then inflects these images with an acute critical sense, producing works in dialogue with current events, such as the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, American intervention in the Dominican Republic and contemporary French politics.
A vehement commitment to highlighting the history and contemporary resonances of racism, imperialism and colonialism remains a constant throughout his career, with works that evoke the insidious ways in which these structures continue to permeate our daily lives. In his latest works, Télémaque makes more direct reference to his Haitian heritage and his experience as a member of the Caribbean diaspora.