Hallard works with the diversity of bodies and their representations with a focus on those bodies invisible to society. The work ‘Les Corps Incorruptibles’ is a series of 70 portraits that deal with nudity and address the issues that surround our bodies, such as gender identity, fatphobia, age, skin tonality, etc. Issues that, according to Hallard “maintain the body as a political object in the 21st century” in a time when “the very same beauty cannons from the last century, those of a young, white, thin, heterosexual woman, continue to be dragged along. Beauty as a woman’s first commercial asset, a passport to a happy marriage, professional success and social recognition.” The author warns about the “bombardment of photo shopped images that lead men and women to yearn for an unattainable standard and that lead to frustration and self-hatred.”

In light of this, Hallard proposes to “reject the rule because it is a choice, both from vulnerability and from enthusiasm-- to be incorruptible, loyal to oneself, honest, and punk in the face of a capitalist system that generates monstrous offspring of uniformity and consumerism, and all of this from the same postcolonial patriarchal mould of the last century.”

For the artist, ‘Les Corps Incorruptibles’ is a celebration of diversity, improbability, ambiguity, androgyny and the non-binary. “Rejecting the norm, loving and desiring bodies of all ages, sizes, genders and colours has allowed us to deconstruct the standards of beauty, begin a search for honesty, empowerment, acceptance and self-confidence, take in the words of our peers and look at them will tenderness,” Hallard states.

The exhibition is framed within the programming made possible by the collaboration of the University of Valencia and the French Institute of Valencia.

The exhibition’s opening will be attended by the artist, Emilie Hallard; the Vice-President of Culture and Society, Ester Alba; the director of the Equality Unit, Rosa Mochales; and the headmaster of the French Institute of Valencia, Maxime-Henri Rousseau.

Emilie Hallard

Emilie Hallard, born in France in 1979, lives and works in Barcelona. Her work initially took the form of a diary, addressing topics such as night life and relationships, before evolving into artivism. Her current interests centre on portraiture, anti-racist trans-feminism, gender studies and representations of the human body.

Throughout the years, Emilie has been recognised at various photography festivals and institutions like Rencontres d’Arles and Galerie Michèle Chomette en París, and she has worked with photographer Antoine d’Agata (France).

 Emilie’s passion for photography can be seen in Maria Inc, a curatorial and editorial project that helps artists publish their first photobook and gain international visibility. She was the cofounder of the Caja de Luz Visual Art & Photography Festival in Spain and LePhotobookFest in France. Over the last few years, Emilie has been a member of the judges panel for the La Nuu Photography Festival in Spain, as well as a panel member for photography conferences in Belgium, France and Spain.

 Emilie regularly collaborates with visual artist Lizette Nin throughout the year on an interactive workshop, “Ethics and Portraiture,” on the ethics of photography. With her work exhibited in Belgium, Spain, France, Myanmar, Sweden, Switzerland and Tunisia, Emilie's solo exhibition, with the support of the French Institute, will tour Spain until September 2023. She also participated in a group exhibition at the MACBA (Barcelona Museum of Modern Art).

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