Je suis le feu qui hurle: MAG The Women Gallery’s Debut Exhibition Igniting the Inner Flame of Women Artists
“Le ciel est à tous et le fond de l´ocean est à tous, mais la montagne est à celui qui la gravit” – Monique Apple. En deçà au-delà (1962)
We can all reach the sky, the mountaintops… Even the depths of the ocean, if we truly desire it. However, living in a male-dominated society has made that journey a steeper climb for women. That’s why, more and more people are joining the movement to bring visibility to the female figure, becoming, together, something like a global collective bonfire.
“Je suis le feu qui hurle” was the first collective exhibition of MAG The Women Gallery, unveiled this past February. It erupted like a scream, an unrelenting affirmation of collective strength, fierce in its intention to dismantle the inequality, invisibility, and lack of recognition that women artists continue to endure in the art world.
An exhibition rooted by the power of the maternal spirit:
Jean Baptiste Bettencourt is the son of Monique Apple (1937–1998), a woman who had to put aside her creative pursuits to support her husband’s career.
Monique was a writer and an artist, but during her lifetime, societal values were shaped by male authority. Even if that wasn’t the explicit reason, the prevailing perspectives of the time were deeply gender-imbalanced. She ultimately set aside her own aspirations, living in the countryside, raising her children, dedicating herself and, with devotion to the career of her husband, Pierre Bettencourt.
Today, her legacy lives on through the work of her children. In 2021, Elisabeth Bettencourt founded École Monique Apple, a language education institution created with the mission of combating the professional marginalization and social isolation of migrant women. Then, in 2023, her son founded MAG The Women Gallery, an online art platform dedicated to giving visibility to women artists who, for far too long, have been overlooked and ignored.
A collective exhibition that embodies the power of unity and shared strength
“Je suis le feu qui hurle” was a collective exhibition that aimed to be an affirmation of collective strength, tearing apart the inequality, lack of recognition, and invisibility that women artists continue to face in the art world today.
Today, only 2% of global art sales involve works by women artists. The underrepresentation of women remains a pressing issue, not only in the art world, but across many fields. MAG The Women Gallery was created with a clear purpose: to offer visibility to women artists who, for far too long, have been overlooked and ignored.
It’s roster included both emerging artists such as Adele Marchetti, Anna Prudhomme, or Salomé Stein, and some established women artists who, despite their long-standing careers, had received too little visibility, like Claude Stassart-Springer, To Bich Hai, and Elizabeth Lennard. The gallery became a voice for the recognition they deserved: one that, beyond statistics, aimed to restore balance in the narratives of art history.
The Legacy of Monique Apple: A Women-Centered School and Art Gallery Joined in the Mission to Mend a Lasting Injustice
Jean Baptiste Bettencourt was driven by a deep and personal purpose. He had seen, time and again, how women were pushed into the shadows, how their passions and vocations were often silenced by the weight of everyday responsibilities.
MAG The Women Gallery is, in many ways, a tribute to his mother: A woman whose creative voice was never fully heard. The name of the exhibition draws inspiration from the title of her first book, En deçà au-delà, published when she was just 20 years old, a quiet flame that now burns brighter through the voices of many.
That’s why, in collaboration with École Monique Apple, all funds raised through this exhibition are dedicated to charitable initiatives that provide training in language, art, expression, and integration for migrant women, offering meaningful support in their professional journeys while actively fighting invisibility and social isolation.
An exhibition infused with courage, solidarity, altruism, and creativity. In this mission, art is more than a tool, it is a force. A force that nurtures women’s creative potential and serves as a powerful catalyst for integration into French society.