Hessie

Spanish Town, 1933 – Pontoise, 2017

Carmen Lydia Djuric, known by her artistic name Hessie, was born in Spanish Town in 1933, and passed away in Pontoise, France, on October 9, 2017, at the age of 81. In the late 1950s, she travelled around Europe (Spain, England, France, Switzerland and Germany), Canada and the United States. Between 1960 and 1961, she lived in New York, where she worked as a model and copyist in a workshop reproducing artworks, and met her partner, the Montenegrin artist Miodrag Dado Djuric (1933-2010).

In 1962, the couple moved to Hérouval and settled in an old mill owned by the gallerist Daniel Cordier, who sold it to Dado for a symbolic price. There, Hessie and Dado set up a studio and began creating exceptional work. She also had a studio in Paris (13th district), where, in 1978, she hosted a series of artistic and cultural activities organised by the Femme/Art movement.

A key figure in the 1970s art scene, she adopted a style close to Arte Povera, while also engaging with movements such as Supports-Surfaces, Minimalism and Art & Language. She regularly exhibited in various countries and galleries (Galerie Yvon Lambert, Iris Clert, Baudoin Lebon) and museums. In 1975, her first solo exhibition, ‘Survival Art’, was held at the A.R.C-Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. In 1976, she participated in the group exhibition ‘Combative Acts, Profiles and Voices’ organised by the A.I.R. Gallery in New York. In 1978, she exhibited at the Lund Konsthall in Sweden.

During the 1970s, her commitment to feminist movements, especially the Women’s Liberation Movement (MLF), was evident. This vibrant period gradually waned in the 1980s, along with the careers of many other women artists, and Hessie gradually faded from the public sphere.

Thanks to a donation from Daniel Cordier, two of Hessie’s works were incorporated into the Centre Pompidou collection. Recently, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre has been responsible for preserving, exhibiting and defending her artistic legacy. In 2016, her work was presented at La Verrière, Fondation Hermès in Brussels. In 2017, the ‘Survival Art’ exhibition was inaugurated at the Musée Les Abattoirs in Toulouse and later travelled to MUSAC in León in 2018.