In her large-scale, expressionistic paintings, Dora Jeridi (b. 1988; Paris, France) layers abstract gestures with elements of figuration in theatrical examinations of the tension of the strength and vulnerability inherent to the human condition. Throughout her work, fragments of old master paintings run into expressionistic oil and spray paint gestures along with charcoal, oil stick, and ballpoint marks. Within these richly textured surfaces, Jeridi captures the complex interplay of personal anxiety, societal crisis, and historical reckoning. Humming with narrative potential, these works nevertheless remain elusive, only revealing themselves in breathless glimpses.
Trained as a political historian, Jeridi turned to painting as a refuge—and out of a desire for a sense of truth she never found in academic discourse. Throughout her practice, Jeridi acts as both composer and DJ. In her role as composer, she treats each of her distinct materials—oil paint, charcoal, ballpoint pen, spray paint—as its own melody line, bringing them together on canvas in harmony and dissonance. Acting as a DJ, the artist collages visual allusions to art history—from Velázquez to Goya to Twombly to Guston—with elements of pop culture, sampling, splicing, and reassembling all her source material into compositions entirely her own.
Jeridi’s work has been featured in exhibitions at Montpellier Contemporain, France; the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France; Maison Caillebotte, Yerres, France; Institut Français de Madrid, Spain; Toulon Provence Méditerranée Art Center, France; and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France, among others. She was awarded the 9th Révélations Emerige Grant in 2022 and the Prix Pierre Cardin in Painting by the Académie des beaux-arts in 2024. She participated in the International Studio & Curatorial Program residency in New York in 2024. The artist currently lives and works in New York, NY.