I have always been interested in what surrounds a work of art—the writing that explains it, the photographs that testify to its existence and exhibition, and the promotional materials that justify and advertise it.
As a student of fine arts (ENSBA), art history and archaeology (Paris-IV Sorbonne, Michelet), and advertising studio photography (Gobelins, Paris), I was already questioning how much I knew about certain artworks through mediation—whether through descriptive texts, photographs documenting them in exhibitions or studio settings. I wondered to what extent this mediation shaped my perception and interpretation of these artworks, most of which I had never seen in person.
This reminded me of the role of engraving before the invention of photography, when it was used to disseminate images of paintings, sculptures, and architectural works across different countries, allowing artists and viewers to engage with art they could not physically see. My professor Jean-Francois Chebrier at ENSBA, in his seminar Des Territoires , mentioned something similar: engravings of artworks were interpretations rather than exact reproductions, leaving space for interpretation and, therefore, imagination—unlike photography, which more closely captures reality.
A Dutch physicist, Robert Dijkgraaf once referenced this quality of engravings while recalling Donald Rumsfeld’s words about “known unknowns.” In a 17th-century engraved world map of the sea, the unknown regions were explicitly marked—not just as empty spaces, but symbolized by surreal sea monsters. These figures represented an awareness that something existed in those areas, even if its nature was unknown.
Returning to the idea of artworks mediated through text and images, I began to consider the term the ecology of art—everything that allows an artwork to live beyond its physical form.
In 2006 and 2007, as I moved from Paris to the Jan van Eyck Academie in the Netherlands, I started thinking about how I came to admire certain artists during my student years. I realized that, in many cases, I had never actually seen their works in person. Instead, my understanding of their art was shaped by various sources—photographs, texts, and VHS recordings. These fragmented impressions led me to construct mental images of their works rather than experiencing them firsthand.These Artists were Robert Smithson, Robert Morris, Donald Judd, Frank Stella, Eva Hesse, Joan Mitchell, Joseph Kosuth, and Bruce Nauman—key figures in minimal and conceptual art whose legacy strongly influenced us as young art students in the late 1990s.
This period, the late 1990s early 2000s, marked our transition into adulthood, just before the new millennium. The beginning of which would be marked by a series of events that would see our belief in democratic principles being profoundly undermined, events that would shape the first quarter our 21st century.
This period marked our transition into adulthood, just before the new millennium. Then, the events that followed the year 2000 would see our belief in democratic principles being profoundly undermined by the Bush Junior US Administration, and the collapse of images and journalism as a counter-power to centralized governmental power. These dynamics contributed to a perceived erosion of the media's function as a counter-power, impacting public discourse and trust.
And go on to shape the first quarter of the 21st century.
The Dutch National Bank has acquired in 2014, 2015 a number of my works, among them the painting "Donald Rumsfeld with Chevron Pattern". This painting is now on display in the new building of the dutch central bank in which the permanent collection is freely accessible: https://www.denieuweschatkamer.nl/en/art-collection/works-and-artists/extraordinary-works-extraordinary-stories/donald-rumsfeld-with-chevron-pattern/
Dina Danish and Jean-Baptiste Maitre have created a collaborative diptych cloth piece entitled: Ya Reit Zamani Maysaheneesh (I Wish Time Wouldn’t Wake Me Up) featuring a facsimile of a color photogram for the exhibition "Something Else", organised by and exhibited at DARB1718 in Cairo, EG. - 🗓 February - opening Sunday 9 February 2025, 6PM. Location in Cairo: محور 26 يوليو، 159 Kasr Al Shama'e, Kom Ghorab, Old Cairo, Cairo Governorate 11211
RICOMPOSIZIONI - OPENING 20th February 2025 : a group exhibition at Rita Urso Artopia Gallery in Milan. With Andreco, Claire Chalet, Dina Danish, Angelo Filomeno, Carlo Guaita, Alexander Gutke, Jean-Baptiste Maitre, Elena Mazzi, Marzena Nowak, Giulia Parlato, Jasmine Pignatelli, Giuditta Vendrame.
The artist duo Dina Danish and Jean-Baptiste Maitre are collaborating in Cairo, Egypt, to research and recreate the ancient Egyptian synthetic blue pigment. Through this investigation, they will produce a series of artworks. A blog about the project is available here: https://khamsa-we-khmesa-blue.blogspot.com/ . This project is supported by Mondriaan Fonds.