Marlène Mocquet

Marlène Mocquet has established herself as a major figure in the French contemporary art scene, alongside a generation that has revitalized figurative painting at the start of the 21st century. Her work, often described as dreamlike and fantastical, spans painting, sculpture, drawing, and installation, creating narratives rich in vibrant colors and abundant forms. Her aesthetic, which transcends the boundaries between reality and imagination, is driven by a sophisticated technical mastery that defies the pitfalls of styles and definitions.

There is magic, chemistry, and alchemy in Marlène Mocquet's work. A painter and ceramic sculptor, she blends materials and techniques of her own invention to reflect the mysteries of another dimension. In her finely chiseled microcosms, reminiscent of childhood tales, the material—whether painted, drawn, or sculpted—becomes a sensation. For her, a splash of paint, the slightest drip, becomes the starting point for a true odyssey. From the formless to form, the figures journey through hybridization, wavering between mineral, vegetal, and animal. Colorful juices spread their excess with a voluptuous indulgence, while fruit-like reliefs are sculpted from veils of salt, acid, and other sugars glazed with enamel.

Marlène Mocquet's art asserts itself, above all, as a feast—generous and proliferating. It is in this abundance, and this ambivalence, that the artist unfolds her narratives, which feel both familiar and imbued with an uncanny strangeness. At her banquet, a multitude of mischievous and intriguing beings are invited: ghostly chimeras, anatomically precise birds, the turrets of an enchanted castle, and a wondrous bestiary that hovers between the childlike and the terrifying. We wander through this imaginative world, both fascinated and awed, while everywhere, large round eyes invite us to the incandescence of reverie or reflection.

Numerous museums and institutions have dedicated solo exhibitions to her: the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon (2009), the Musée de l'Abbaye Sainte-Croix (Les Sables d’Olonne, 2012), the Maison des arts de Malakoff (2013), the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris, 2017), the Julio Gonzalez Art Center (Arcueil, 2021), the Musée Déchelette (Roanne, 2022), and the GGL Foundation-Hôtel Richer de Belleval (Montpellier, 2024). Featuring paintings, drawings, and ceramic sculptures, these exhibitions often took the form of immersive hybrid installations, where the visitor becomes an active participant in a lived experience.

Her work has joined significant public and private collections, both in France and internationally: the Fonds National d'Art Contemporain (French National Contemporary Art Fund), the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Lyon, the Pinault Collection, the Salomon Foundation, the Lafayette Anticipations Foundation, the Musée de Sèvres, the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, the JP Morgan Foundation, the Renault Foundation, and the Musée de l’Abbaye Sainte-Croix, among others.

Marlène Mocquet was born in 1979 in Maisons-Alfort. She graduated with honors from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2006. From 2011 to 2017, she was an artist-in-residence at the Cité de la Céramique de Sèvres. She lives and works in Pantin.