Transgresser pour déconstruire. Deborah de Robertis : l’impertinence contre le pouvoir

Abstract

This article analyzes the artistic production of Deborah de Robertis, who has been controversial since 2014 when she exposed her sex in front of Gustave Courbet’s Origine du monde at the Musée d’Orsay. In order to reverse the male gaze on works of art, the artist embodies the model of famous paintings without permission of the museums where she performs, giving rise to several police custodies and trials. The question is about showing how the artist goes beyond simple provocation to formulate an artistic and political discourse, while focusing on her impertinence, taking risks with authority. This study first asks the question of some conformism to the creation of women artists of the 1970s, before examining the subversion of her works of art which break with traditional moral values. Finally, this study analyzes the relations between the artist and museums in order to obtain a general idea of the number of occurrences that daring takes in her artistic production.