Jenny Rova

When Jenny Rova met Philippe in Zurich, he was living illegally in Switzerland after his asylum application was rejected. For fear of repercussions, he refused to be photographed. But Rova wanted to preserve her memories and took screenshots of their video calls without his knowledge. After a few months together, the couple decided to get married, but the procedure was complicated as the authorities suspected it was a marriage of convenience. Initially personal, these images become the key evidence of the reality of their relationship. The Calling Philippe/Prove your love installation invites us to reflect on the role of images in our daily lives: the importance of memory in building a relationship, the use of photography as proof of love, and the delicate question of consent.

After a painful breakup, Jenny Rova started spying on her former boyfriend and his current partner on Facebook. After downloading pictures posted by the couple, she photographed herself mimicking the gestures and expressions of her ex’s new girlfriend. The artist then cut her face out of these images and superimposed it on her rival’s face, thus appropri- ating a life from which she had been excluded. Her series entitled I would also like to be – A work on jealousy questions the perception of photos when posted on social networks and the feelings they generate in the beholders. Exhibited in a park, in full public view, the snapshots were printed on standard paper with the artist’s self-portraits pasted on top.