About

Demo Dema, aka Karolina Dema and Virgile Demo, is an art duo living and working between Brussels, Belgium, and Paris, France. Their illustrations for the children's book L’Ile des Mers Perdues became part of the French National Archives in June 2021. Both graduated from the University of Brighton with a BA in Fine Arts Painting in 2020, where they met. Their work focuses on themes of collective memory, international relations, and the influence of fashion on political discourse, utilizing drawing and painting as their primary mediums. They also run the Drawing Sesh, an online drawing school launched in Spring 2020.

Karolina, originally from Czestochowa, Poland, has been trained in various artistic disciplines since age 12, while Virgile, from Paris, France, transitioned from a career in media production to art. Their exhibitions span several countries, including the US (Bass & Rainer, San Francisco, 2015), the UK (Hove Museum in 2020), France (Paris: Carreau du Temple, 2017, La Bellevilloise, 2021), Belgium (Brussels: After Dark, 2021, CELEBRATIONS, 2023) and Poland (Czestochowa: Jewish Museum, 2018), with their works held in notable private collections worldwide. They are currently preparing for their upcoming exhibition, A ROOM FULL OF SIGNS, which opens on November 21, 2024, in their Brussels studio, showcasing over 400 images of their work from the past 4 years. For more info, get in touch: info@demodema.com

Karolina Dema

EDUCATION
2020 BA Fine Arts Painting, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
2018 BA Fine Arts Painting, Academy Of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, PL
2014 Complex of Art Schools- Jacek Malczewski in Czestochowa, PL
EXHIBITIONS
2023 CELEBRATION, paintings by Karolina Dema & Virgile Demo
2022 Final Show, Drawing Group Show, Oxbridge Academic Program, Paris, FR
2022 POST IT, Collage Group Show, De Krook Library, Ghent, BE
2021 La Grande Fête de Pièce Détachée, Drawing Group Show, La Bellevilloise, Paris, FR
2021 After Hours, Drawing & Performance Group Show, Brussels, BE
2020 CLICHE.S, Drawing Solo Show, V&K Gallery, Brussels, BE
2020 Hove Museum Exhibition, Painting Group Show, Brighton, UK
2019 How did we get here?, Painting Group Show, University of Brighton, UK
2019 Age of: Exploration, 2nd Year Show, Brighton University Gallery, Brighton, UK
2018 Painting Festival, Wroclaw, PL
2014 Final Show, Gallery Jerzy Duda-Gracz, Czestochowa, PL
2013 Group Show, Painting Group Show, Katowice, PL
CURATIONS
2019 Age of: Exploration, 2nd Year Show, University of Brighton, UK
PUBLICATIONS
2021 LEAF Magazine #3: Portfolio of 10 fashion illustrations
2021 Pièce Détachée #4: the Hat Issue
2021 Ensemble Magazine: Inauguration. Portfolio of 10 illustrations
2020 LEAF Magazine #2: Portfolio of 18 fashion illustrations
2019 1854 Magazine: Double interview of Karolina Demo and Virgile Demo
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2021 L’ile des Mers Perdues, Archives Nationales, Paris, FR
2020 Painting Exhibition, Hove Museum, Hove, UK
2016 Jewish Museum, Czestochowa, PL
RESIDENCIES
2022 Private Residency, Porte de Namur, Brussels, BE
2019 Shit The Bed Project, Brighton, UK
2014 Thelma Yelin School, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, IL
2013 Ceramic Residency, Tomaszowice, PL
PUBLICATIONS
2021 L’île des Mers Perdues, Archives Nationales
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2022 & 2023, July: Arts Profesor, Oxbridge Academic Program, Paris, FR
Since 2020: the Drawing Sesh, online drawing school
Virgile Demo

EDUCATION
2020 BA Fine Arts Painting, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK
2011 MA International Affairs, Sciences Po Paris, FR
2007 BA History, La Sorbonne University, Paris, FR
EXHIBITIONS
2023 CELEBRATION, paintings by Karolina Dema & Virgile Demo
2022 Final Show, Drawing Group Show, Oxbridge Academic Program, Paris, FR
2022 POST IT, Collage Group Show, De Krook Library, Ghent, BE
2021 La Grande Fête de Pièce Détachée, Drawing Group Show, La Bellevilloise, Paris, FR
2021 After Hours, Drawing & Performance Group Show, Brussels, BE
2020 CLICHE.S, Drawing Solo Show, V&K Gallery, Brussels, BE
2020 Hove Museum Exhibition, Painting Group Show, Brighton, UK
2019 Of Pets and People, Dog & Bones Gallery, Brighton, UK
2019 The Grand Tour, Painting Solo Show, Coachwerks, Brighton, UK
2019 How did we get here?, Painting Group Show, University of Brighton, UK
2019 Family Portrait, Drawing Solo Show, Louie Media, Paris, FR
2019 Age of: Exploration, 2nd Year Show, Brighton University Gallery, Brighton, UK
2017 To Gaether Art Fair, Group Show, Carreau du Temple, Paris, FR
2016 Le Kolaj, 2010-2016, Collage Solo Show, Galerie du ViDe, Paris, FR
2015 To Whom it May Concern, Group Show, Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, USA
CURATIONS
2019 Age of: Exploration, 2nd Year Show, University of Brighton, UK
2016 Le Kolaj 2010-2016, Galerie du ViDe, Paris, FR
2009 Sciences Po Photo Exhibition, Sciences Po University, Paris, FR
PUBLICATIONS
2021 LEAF Magazine #3: Portfolio of 10 fashion illustrations
2021 Pièce Détachée #4: the Hat Issue
2021 Ensemble Magazine: Inauguration. Portfolio of 10 illustrations
2020 LEAF Magazine #2: Portfolio of 18 fashion illustrations
2019 1854 Magazine: Double interview of Karolina Demo and Virgile Demo
MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
2021 Archives Nationales, L’ile des Mers Perdues, Paris, FR
2020 Hove Museum, Painting Exhibition, Hove, UK
RESIDENCIES
2022 Private Residency, Porte de Namur, Brussels, BE
2019 Shit The Bed Project, Brighton, UK
PUBLICATIONS
2021 L’île des Mers Perdues, Archives Nationales de France
2017 Le Kolaj, 2010-2016
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2022 & 2023, July: Arts Profesor, Oxbridge Academic Program, Paris, FR
Since 2020 The Drawing Sesh, online drawing school
2019-2021: Arts Teacher, Archives Nationales, Paris, FR