Central Artist Corner presents Guylaine Conquet

Biography
Guylaine Conquet is a French visual artist, curator, and author born in Guadeloupe and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work explores Afro hair as a site of identity, memory, cultural transmission, and political resistance. Through figurative oil painting and mixed media, she transforms hair into a symbolic language that reflects dignity, belonging, and self-definition.
Exhibited in France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, her work has been presented at institutions including the French Parliament, where it contributed to broader conversations on representation and social justice. She is the author of The Spirit of My Hair, a memoir that extends her artistic practice into writing and cultural history.
Before dedicating herself to visual art, Conquet spent more than twenty years as a television and radio journalist with France Télévisions. Today, her multidisciplinary practice combines visual art, curatorial projects, education, and public engagement.

Statement
"My work explores Afro hair as a visual, cultural, and political language. Through figurative oil painting and mixed media, I treat hair not as ornament, but as architecture: a crown, a mechanism, and a living archive carrying memory, resilience, and self-definition. Rooted in Afro-Caribbean heritage and shaped by Black historical experiences, my practice examines how identity is formed, regulated, and reclaimed. Hair becomes a point of entry into broader questions of visibility, belonging, dignity, and power. Recurring motifs such as the Afro, braids, and acts of hair care function as visual records of cultural transmission and collective memory. Through painting, writing, curatorial projects, and public engagement, I investigate how personal stories connect to larger social and historical narratives."

Guylaine's exhibition is on display in the 1st floor Studio A from October 5, 2026 through January 23, 2027. Visit Central Library on October 5th during business hours for the Open House viewing of her exhibition.

Connect with Guylaine on her website www.just-afro.com, opens a new window, Instagram @justafro1, opens a new window, Facebook JustAfroArt, opens a new window, and email at guylaine.conquet@just-afro.com, opens a new window.