Hazebrouck, France (1971)

The French artist Jean-Michel Pancin is interested in “the other” and “the elsewhere”. The other, for Pancin, is also the dreamed self, while the elsewhere is both physical and virtual. The artist works on confinement, whether by our own body or by physical, social or mental jails, and proposes creative ways out. Their inexhaustible desire to “get out” links Pancin’s projects tightly together. Jean-Michel Pancin has a master in economy from the University of Aix-Marseille (1996); a BA in fine arts from the University of Paris VIII (1999) and a diploma in photography and video from the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris (ENSAD, 2002). He has been awarded the first Leica Prize for Young Talents in 2001, and a number of grants and artists’ residencies (Wendover 2005). Pancin’s work on prison has been shown at Palais de Tokyo (Paris) in 2013 and his upcoming video work will be featured as a premiere at Loop 2014.