TOKOTANY

JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA

TOKOTANY

OPENING

THRUSDAY MARCH 27th 2025

6 PM

PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY

Via valtellina 31, 20159 Milano

THE ARTIST WILL ATTEND THE EVENT
TOKOTANY

JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA - PRIMO MARELLA MILAN

Tokotany is the Malagasy term for an outside area, a yard common to a number of homes, a space adjacent to a bulding. We can imagine that this plot of wasteland is a Malagasy place from another time, a scene of melancholic, nostalgic regret.

A specific place where young people from the same neighbourhood, meet, chat, mingle and join in games.

So the tokotany is a place for meeting and socialising.

When people visit the tokotany, they encounter others and get to know them.

They can then show interest, friendship or even affection towards those other persons.

With a sign, a sound, a word or a look, a simple fellow player can become a companion. The tokotany, with its intense but tenuous subtlety, becomes a playground of endless possibilities… a theatre of infinite potential with moments of boundless opportunity,

Perceptions of every option converge to forge and dissolve links until they remain imprinted on the memories of different generations…

In relation to this concept conceived on the playground of every possibility, Joël Andrianomearisoa has chosen to present a new body of work in the form of Tokotany, his fifth personal exhibition at the Primo Marella Milan gallery.

Its deep-rooted Madagascan inspirations are accompanied by words of the World.

The project pays tribute to all ‘first times’ – of every kind experienced – and focuses solely on discovery, actions that are like certainties, but always remain subject to the constant tension of experimentation.

The artist has chosen words, fabric and textiles, oil and metal in his approach, reflecting narratives inspired by that tokotany playground.

Here, we see his favourite media – elements of his artistic language – meticulously recomposed in a fresh corpus for this new exhibition.

building. Open ground among different constructions, a plot, a yard… earth.

- Rina Ralay Ranaivo
© Studio Joël Andrianomearisoa

JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joël Andrianomearisoa expresses himself through various mediums and materials, seeking to give form to non-explicit and abstract narrations. From sculpture to installation, from craftsmanship to writing, from textile to architecture, he adopts a plural approach inspired by his Malagasy roots but also by the world and its multiple geographies.

Imbued with complex emotional experiences, his work gives rise to delicate and tension-filled creations, mirroring the breaths of our lives. A serie of exercises in constant evolution … continuous explorations of the materiality of emotions.

Born in 1977 in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Joël Andrianomearisoa lives and works across multiple territories: Paris, Antananarivo, and Magnat-l’Étrange. He graduated from the École Spéciale d’Architecture (Paris) as an architect in 2003.

Joël Andrianomearisoa has presented his work in several prestigious institutions worldwide and in the context of major contemporary art events: he has exhibited at Kunsthalle Praha in Prague, Dallas Contemporary, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington DC, the Macaal in Marrakech, the Dakar Biennale, the Sydney Biennale, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Hamburger Bahnhof, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin.

In 2019, he represented Madagascar for the first time at the 58th Venice Biennale with a monumental installation for its national pavilion.

His works are part of the collections of the Zeitz Mocaa (Cape Town), the Smithsonian (Washington DC), the Studio Museum in Harlem (New York), the Sztuki Museum (Łódź), and the Yavarhoussen Collection

In 2020, Joël Andrianomearisoa founded an independent space in Antananarivo dedicated to artists, in collaboration with his accomplice Hasnaine Yavarhoussen. Hakanto Contemporary embodies his own commitment to the creative scene of his native country.

In 2025, Joël Andrianomearisoa’s work are part of the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, US.

Throughout his career, he has received several awards, including the Arco Madrid Audemars Piguet Prize in 2016. In 2019, the Republic of Madagascar named him a Chevalier of Arts and Letters, and in 2024, France conferred upon him the title of Chevalier of Arts and Letters.
JOËL ANDRIANOMEARISOA

PRESENTS

TOKOTANY

PRIMO MARELLA GALLERY MILANO

27 MARCH - 6 PM