Raphaël Barontini
Les Inrockuptibles

Invited by the Palais de Tokyo in Paris for his first major solo exhibition in France, Somewhere in the Night, the People Dance, Raphaël Barontini brings the full scope of his acclaimed practice to a French audience. Having developed much of his work in the United States—particularly during formative years in New York—Barontini drew deep inspiration from colonial and Caribbean histories. “That’s where I found my references and guiding figures, in institutions like the Brooklyn Museum or the Studio Museum in Harlem. When I came back to Paris, I decided to continue down that path.” This transatlantic influence has shaped his approach to art as a platform for reinterpreting historical narratives through layered media.

 

Centering his exhibition on the legacy of Haiti’s first king, Henri Christophe, Barontini expands his collage-based practice to include tapestry, screen printing, performance, and dance. His fusion of materials and ideas is guided by intellectuals like Aimé Césaire and Édouard Glissant—whose concept of creolization anchors Barontini’s methodology. “At the Beaux-Arts, when I discovered Glissant’s texts on creolization, it was a shock—it gave structure to my thinking and aesthetic,” he recalls. Rooted in his home city of Saint-Denis, where his studio overflows with diverse materials, Barontini’s art doesn’t require elaborate explanation; it speaks for itself, inviting viewers to uncover overlooked dimensions of shared history through rich, multi-layered imagery.

 

Excerpted words written by Jean-Marie Durand for Les Inrockuptibles.