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    Marion Charlet’s art is driven by an imaginary that crosses reality in powerful compositions, whose primary function is to assert an aesthetic where colour is both the pretext and the text. Working from photographs that she takes herself and then modifies on her computer, the artist firstly created a world of original landscapes and interiors, most often architectural, surroundedby profuse vegetation, and devoid of all human presence.

    Colour is the driving factor in how Charlet constructs each of her paintings and watercolours, bringing the motif to the fullness of its form. The skillful combination of intensity, transparency and opacity give the painted image its depth, its rhythm, its breath, the artist playing sometimes with empty space, sometimes with full… here an intrusion, while there a screen. (Philippe Piguet)


    Marion Charlet was born in Paris in 1982. After graduating from the École des Beaux-Arts, the Villa Arson (Nice), the Chelsea College of Art and Design (London) and the Institut Supérieur des Art Appliqués (Paris), she currently lives and works in Paris. She was the winner of the Prix Art [ ] Collector in 2018 and the Prix de la Fondation Colas in 2016

    Exhibition :
    … Et l’été reviendra.

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      Born in Paris in 1982
      Lives and works in Paris

      EDUCATION

      2009 High Degree, School of Fine Art, Villa Arson, Nice, France
      2008 Chelsea College of Art and Design, Erasmus exchange, London, UK
      2005 Graphic Design, Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués LISAA, Paris, France

      SOLO / DUO EXHIBITIONS

      2020
      Marion Charlet – David Hockney – De la couleur avant toute chose, La Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon-les-Bains, France
      … Et l’été reviendra, Galerie PARIS-B, Paris, France

      2018
      Eden, La Patinoire Royale / Galerie Valérie Bach, Brussels, Belgium
      Là-bas, Patio Opéra, Art [ ] Collector, curated by Philippe Piguet, Paris, France
      Drawing Now, Galerie Virginie Louvet, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France

      2017
      Impressions, Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France

      2015
      As Long as it lasts, Galerie Virginie Louvet, Paris, France

      2014
      Peinture, Galerie d’Art de Créteil, France

      2010
      Happy Blue…, Galerie Premier Regard, Paris, France

      GROUP EXHIBITIONS

      2021
      l’ENFER, Galerie Sabine Bayasli, Paris, France
      Here, There, Somewhere, Galerie PARIS-B, Paris, France
      Un goût de vacances, des saveurs d’été, CAC Meymac, Meymac, France
      Accrocher l’été, Galerie Valérie Bach, Brussels, Belgium

      2019
      Twenty Five Elements, Espace Commines, Paris, France

      2018
      La Petite Collection, Galerie Bertrand Grimont, Paris, France

      2017
      Le Vent Souffle Où Il Veut, Galerie Françoise Besson, Lyon, France
      Drawing Now, Galerie Virginie Louvet, Carreau du Temple, Paris, France
      Peindre, Dit-Elle (Chap.2), curated by Amélie Lavin, Julie Crenn and Annabelle Ténèze, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole, Dole, France

      2016
      Art Contest, (nommée Prix Art Contest), ADAM Museum, Brussels, Belgium

      2015
      Peindre, Dit-Elle, curated by Julie Crenn and Annabelle Ténèze, Musée départemental d’Art Contemporainde Rochechouart, France
      Vendange Tardive, CAC Meymac, Meymac, France
      Furiosités, commissariat Julie Crenn, Galerie Frédéric Lacroix, Paris, France
      Dépendances, Galerie Crash, Lille, France
      Prix Antoine Marin, Galerie Julio Gonzalez, Arcueil, France
      Le Kabinet Du Dessin, Brussels, Belgium

      2014
      Cosmic Players, Galerie Martine et Thibault de la Châtre, Paris, France
      Overline III, Prieuré Saint-Nicolas, Les Sables d’Olonne, France
      Salon Du Dessin Contemporain, Centre Madeleine, Lille, France

      2013
      Novembre A Vitry, Galerie municipale Jean Collet, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
      Le Jardin Des Delices, le Kabinet, Brussels, Belgium
      Shipping Paradise, avec le collectif Frenchfries, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France

      2012
      Novembre A Vitry, Galerie municipale Jean Collet, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
      Oui A La Peinture / Yes To Painting, 6 Peintres Français A L’honneur, Maison Tajan, Paris, France

      AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

      2018
      Winner of Art [ ] Collector, Paris, France

      2016
      WInner of Fondation Colas Prize, France

      2015
      Residency Chamalot, Moustier-Ventadour, France
      Nominated by the prize Antoine Marin, Arcueil, France

      2013
      Cité Internationale des Arts with FrenchFries collective, Paris, France

      SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

      2020
      Marion Charlet – David Hockney – De la couleur avant toute chose, catalog Semaine, April
      Les rêves éveillés de Marion Charlet, texte d’Elizabeth Vedrenne, Connaissance des arts, April, #791

      2018
      Là-bas, exhibition catalog
      Les paysages magnétiques de Marion Charlet, text by Gabrielle Gauthier, Arts Magazine, October-November
      Marion Charlet, l’Eden concentrationnaire, texte de Guy GILSOUL, le Vif, January

      2017
      Marion Charlet, Art [ ] Collector Gagnante du prix, text by Marie de la Fresnaye, Mooogli.com Text by Daniel Guionnet et Valérie Toubas, Point Contemporain
      Text by Guillaume Benoit, Slash magazine
      Peindre, dit-elle (chap.2), exhibition catalog

      2016
      Art Contest, exhibition catalog
      Marion Charlet : Jeux d’artifices, text by Benjamin Defossez, Lemon Lemag #6, April-May

      2015
      Vous entrez dans un temps suspendu, text by Pauline de la Boulaye
      Focus artiste, interview par Solène Ducasse, TCQVAR #66
      Qui sont les peintres de demain?, text by Philippe Piguet, l’Oeil #676
      Résidence d’artiste, Design @Home magazine
      Une peinture, des femmes, text by Yann le Chevalier, Parcours des arts #44

      2014
      Marion Charlet // À l’abri des phanstasmes, text by Julie Crenn, revue inferno

      2013
      Du cliché et de la création, text by Jean Louis Poitevin, revue inferno
      Frenchfries // live ans exotes, text by Julie Crenn

      2012
      Oui à la peinture, Yes to painting, exhibition catalog

      2011
      Les peintures de Marion Charlet déterminent des lieux entre nature et artifice, text by Marc Desgrandchamps

      COLLECTIONS

      Fondation Colas, France
      Fondation Velux, Danemark
      Ministère des affaires étrangères, France
      Le musée du chat, Belgium

      • Marion Charlet, Interview at Galerie Paris-Beijing. Video by Pierre Douaire.

      Marion Charlet – David Hockney, de la couleur avant toute chose
      – By Philippe Piguet

      The art of Marion Charlet requires an imagination that can grasp pieces of reality through powerful compositions in which colors are both the pretext and the text. The artist works with photographs that she takes herself and then edits on her computer as she sees fit. She first started to create a world made of landscapes and unique architectural interiors that are often overrun by a profuse vegetation and deprived of any human presence. As she adds many different viewpoints and plays with our perception of spaces, she creates a confusing, disorienting environment which draws our eyes into a visually festive universe. Then arrives a figure that finds its place in games of anonymous silhouettes, isolated or part of a group, pending in undefined spaces, predominantly opaline blue, between appearance and disappearance. Somewhat syncopated dancing figures allowing for colors to be part of a choreography, animated by the movement of a printed fabric that subtly bears the image of past landscapes – Ciao series (2019-2020).

      In Charlet’s work, it’s the colors that determine the layout of each of her paintings and watercolors, and therefore complete the pattern. The right dosage of their intensity, the quality of their transparency and opacity give the painting depth, rhythm and breathing as the artist plays with emptiness and fulness, refraction and screen. Something seductive is at play in her work which lures the viewer as into a trap that once discovered cannot be escaped. According to the words of the poet, luxury, calmness and delight reign over her work and create resting places out of the views of the open sea – Far Away From Calais (2016) -, of the greenhouse-looking cottage – Soledad (2015) – of this floating boat – Before Session (2019). The light shines everywhere, blissfully, in a silent pause. One feels at peace with no intention to leave.

      What explains it? Firstly, perhaps the fact that during her training years, Marion Charlet – who was born in Paris in 1982 – spent a year in England, studying at the Chelsea College of Art, in an environment that was ignoring the supposedly end of painting. This environment was free from any strict tutelage and let the young painters give in to passion – in her own words – for “painting, subject and color”. Secondly, it is due to her capacity to wonder even paired with her critical mind which allows her to be perceptive and doubtful – both qualities necessary not no get overwhelmed by your work. To finish, there is within her a will to be objective, to distance herself from reality which is confirmed by her smooth and diligent style. Charlet’s work does not impose itself on you but rather invites you in.

      Her works displayed in Thonon allow her to experience it though two distinct scales: on the one hand, large-scale paintings – including both landscapes and figures – whose virtual size expands beyond the frames, literally embracing the space around; on the other hand, the series named Gateways(2016-2018), small-scale paintings that she uses to explore all sorts of patterns and details. In all, the experience resembles the one on a ship “when you switch from a deck view to a porthole” as the artist said. Space and color, these are the cornerstones of Marion Charlet’s art.

      Extrait from the presse release of the duo exhibition “Marion Charlet – David Hockney, De la couleur avant toute chose”, June 26th – September 26th 2020 à La Chapelle de la Visitation, Thonon-Les-Bains,France. Curated by Philippe Piguet, art critic and curator.