Photographer Mathis Benestebe presents his exhibition "La peine" on the Triolet campus of the University of Montpellier

[Press release] - Published on October 2, 2025 in Art & Culture, Press room

The University of Montpellier will be exhibiting the end of photographer Mathis Benestebe's residency on the Triolet campus from October 14 (exhibition opening at 6:30pm) to December 12, 2025. Entitled "La peine", the exhibition retraces the artist's attempt to build himself a homemade spacesuit in response to his desire to flee Earth for an as yet unknown destination.  

Mathis Benestebe, a 23-year-old photographer from Toulouse, has been working at the UM since September 2024 on the "art / science" theme. Graduating from ETPA in 2023, his work revolves around intimacy, autobiography and lack. Driven by experimentation with images, his artistic process explores the feeling of contentment. His work was exhibited at the Circulation(s) festival in 2023, and he won the third edition of the Prix Utopi-e.

A DIY spacesuit as a refuge from hostility

Set up in his studio on the Triolet campus, Mathis meticulously assembled layer after layer, material after material, the handcrafted spacesuit that becomes the central element of this science-fictional project. Conceived as a desperate performative gesture to escape the Earth, this amalgam of fabrics and materials found here and there is above all a response to the inactivity and torpor provoked by a world in perdition.

"In this assumed despair, I choose to act alone, absurdly alone, but to act anyway".

A project anchored within the university

In parallel with this construction work, which gives rise to 39 self-portraits tracing the various stages of assembly and sewing, Mathis has integrated himself into the life of the university by organizing various practical photography workshops for students and staff. The UM community has been introduced to silver development, lightpainting and Polaroid transfer. Finally, the artist has also chosen to integrate students and staff directly into his work by having them pose for a series of standardized portraits, presented in the form of a giant trombinoscope of what he calls "the latest generation".

"Then, perhaps, this effort to save oneself will provide the impetus for something more real.

This artist residency is supported by the art & culture department of the campus life division of the University of Montpellier. It is supported by the DRAC Occitanie and is co-financed by the CVEC (Contribution vie étudiante et de campus).