Claire's first exhibition
Data obtained by:
Charlotte Kominsky
Data type:
Press article
Date:
Data found at:
2015
Quai Wilson 47, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland
Description
At last, she did it. She worked hard for it. And thankfully now she gets better by having the recognition she deserves.
“Nocturnes of the Unspoken”: Claire Cobert’s Haunting Debut in Geneva
By Sylvie Manzoni | Arts Correspondent | Le Journal des Lacs
📍 Geneva, Switzerland | 17 July 2015
For three days only, in the hushed stillness of summer, Geneva’s Maison de la Culture des Bains opens its doors to an extraordinary debut exhibition: “Nocturnes of the Unspoken”, a haunting, deeply personal collection of paintings by Claire Cobert, a name unfamiliar in the art world, yet heavy with unspoken history.
This is not merely an exhibition. It is a confrontation with the past.
A Voice Reclaimed in Oil and Silence
Cobert, now 20, has never before shown her work publicly. Her biography, like her art, is layered in silences and shadows. But those familiar with the quietly whispered circles of European humanitarian advocacy will recognise her name, not as a painter, but as a survivor of sex trafficking, following the downfall of deputy prosecutor Jean-Marie Duval and the scandal that followed.
Between 2012 and 2013, Cobert lived under coercion in Paris, controlled by a trafficking network that has since been partially dismantled. Her testimony, taken by a coalition of police forces across Europe all coordinated by Interpol, contributed to several covert prosecutions in France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Spain and Belgium. Since then, she has lived quietly in London, deliberately out of the public eye, until now.
Her emergence into the world of art comes not as a pursuit of fame, but as a necessity. As she writes in her exhibition statement:
“These works were never meant to be seen. They were exorcisms. When I learned to breathe again, I found that painting was the only way I could do it.”
The Exhibition: Raw, Symbolic, And Unrelenting
“Nocturnes of the Unspoken” features thirteen large-scale canvases, each a psychological landscape: fractured interiors, blurred female figures seen through one-way mirrors, doorways half open and never entered, mouths sewn shut with thread. Some pieces are abstract; others bear hyper-realistic detail that leaves viewers visibly unsettled.
One painting, “Sundown at Rue du Département”, depicts a windowless hallway, lit only by the red glow of a bathroom heat lamp. Another, “Withheld Consent”, shows a translucent dress hanging from a pipe, surrounded by shadows resembling outstretched hands.
But perhaps the most devastating piece is “What She Took”, a quiet oil study of a child’s coat abandoned in the corner of a sterile room, painted in a palette of ash, milk, and faint gold. It is the only painting with a name scratched into the canvas’s back: “C.C.”
Support from Dame Charlotte Kominsky
The exhibition is sponsored by Kominsky Global Holdings, a multinational private firm led by Dame Charlotte Kominsky, Cobert’s wife and one of Europe’s most enigmatic new-generation
businesswomen. Kominsky, who took over as Chairwoman of KGH following the controversial acquisition of White Arrow Securities, rebranded afterwards as Valkyr Securities and turned into a PMC, has increasingly aligned her empire with causes surrounding mental health, survivor support, and institutional transparency.
In a brief statement released to the press, Dame Kominsky wrote:
“Art cannot undo what has been done. But it can document that we lived through it. Claire’s work is not only beautiful, it is necessary.”
Their relationship, though fiercely guarded from the media, has become an emblem of personal reclamation for many watching from afar. Kominsky, often described as ruthless in the boardroom, appears in a gentler light through this sponsorship, not as a financier, but as a witness.
Reflections from the Art World
Critics and curators have praised the exhibition’s emotional immediacy. Mariette Dubreuil, curator of the Musée de l’Invisible in Lyon, described Cobert’s work as:
“A theology of survival. Her paintings do not ask to be understood. They demand to be felt. And for many women, particularly in France and Switzerland, this will be the most truthful exhibition they will ever see.”
Attendance is limited and by timed reservation only, out of respect for the intensity of the subject matter and the intimacy of the space. A quiet room has been installed beside the gallery with trained trauma counsellors available on site.
“We are not what happened to us.”
When asked by a Geneva Tribune reporter if she would speak to the media, Claire Cobert declined. Instead, a short note was pinned near the entrance of the exhibition:
“I don’t wish to be interviewed. The paintings speak more clearly than I do. Thank you for looking.”
Exhibition Details
🖼 Nocturnes of the Unspoken
📍 Maison de la Culture des Bains (Opposite Quai Wilson), Geneva
🗓 18–20 July 2015
⏰ Entry by appointment only | 11:00–19:00
🎟 Tickets available via maisonculturebains.ch