Mireille Blanc

Mireille Blanc
2012 - 2013 (selection)
www.mireilleblanc.com
[email protected]
Represented by Dominique Fiat gallery
http://dominiquefiat.com/
Mireille Blanc’s work is immediately striking, but her paintings do not reveal themselves at �irst glance. They must be
seen again, and again. And even as the images begin to materialize, they disappear, casting doubt upon what it is that we
see. For several years, the concerns of Blanc’s paintings have been ambiguity and uncertainty themselves. In this sense,
one may detect the in�luence of Eugene Leroy in her work.
In order to create further distance from her subjects, Blanc uses photographs as source materials. Many of these images
have made themselves at home on the walls of her studio. The photos are discovered in �lea markets and family albums,
or she snaps them herself when confronted by intriguing, and disturbing objects. Blanc then chooses a fragment of a
photograph, removing it from its narrative context. Having sketched an outline into the canvas, she abstracts her painting
to the edge of being nonrepresentational. Traces and re�lections of the photographic source remain, transformed and
�iltered through the paint, doubling the blur between reality and painting.
For many years Blanc used to paint the human �igure. Today it is their absence that is remarkable. She represents objects,
tightly cropped, within undetermined backgrounds. These objects often refer to the everyday, and are reminiscent of
older traditions, such as Germanic folklore (the artist was born in Lorraine). One may recognize a statuette of the Virgin
Mary, a birthday cake decorated with bottle caps, a ceramic pot, or a coat tossed on a bed. The artist sometimes paints
renditions of Manet, and takes inspiration from the still-lifes of Chardin, Morandi, as well as contemporaries such as
Gerard Gasiorowski, Michael Borremans, and Luc Tuymans.
The intimacy of the objects Blanc paints becomes physical by the small scale of her canvasses. The more narrowly the
images are framed, the wider she broadens the horizons of what may exist outside the frame. In this way, Blanc explores
the paths of memory and reminiscence. She paints each picture in one session, perhaps bathed in the immediacy and
transience of memory. Her works seems to construct a collective, nearly universal memory. Her pallet is always muted by
tones of grey, which may well be the colour of memory. In some ways, her work recalls that of Lucian Freud, not only in
colour, but also by her use of impasto. Mireille Blanc has left behind her former manner of painting with thin, translucent
washes.
These paintings are not tinged with irony, or humour, or sentimentality. The objects appear diffused, withdrawn by a
delicate, relentless necessity.
Anaël Pigeat / ArtPress Chief Editor
Translation, Jim Holyoak
En réduction, 2013, oil on canvas, 35 x 40 cm
Dépouille, 2013, oil on canvas, 45 x 60 cm
Le short, 2013, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 cm
Jupe, 2013, oil on canvas, 31 x 40 cm
Coquillages, 2013, oil on canvas, 42 x 50 cm
Reproductions, 2013, oil on canvas, 54 x 60 cm
Corolle, 2013, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 cm
Ornement, 2013, oil on canvas, 41 x 45 cm
Figures (les creux), 2013, oil on canvas, 43 x 50 cm
Le grand trophée, 2013, oil on canvas, 38 x 50 cm
Oreiller, 2013, oil on canvas, 41 x 60 cm
Le lièvre, 2013, oil on canvas, 35 x 50 cm
Tissu, 2013, oil on canvas, 32 x 40 cm
Table, 2013, oil on canvas, 60 x 45 cm
Archive (lustre), 2013, oil on canvas, 120 x 87 cm
Céramique, 2013, oil on canvas, 26 x 35 cm
Le joueur, 2013, oil on canvas, 35 x 40 cm
Collection, 2012, oil on canvas, 37 x 55 cm
Carreau, 2012, oil on canvas, 33 x 36 cm
Winter, 2012, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 cm
Site, 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm
Coussin, 2012, oil on canvas, 38 x 50 cm
Motifs, 2012, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 cm
Fuite, 2012, oil on canvas, 26 x 36 cm
Composition, 2012, oil on canvas, 27 x 33 cm
Plastique, 2012, oil on canvas, 37 x 48 cm
Idole, 2012, oil on canvas, 40 x 49 cm
Le cygne, 2012, oil on canvas, 35 x 45 cm
Ersatz, 2012, oil on canvas, 25 x 35 cm
Edifice, 2012, oil on canvas, 26 x 30 cm
Terrain, 2012, oil on canvas, 34 x 45 cm
Sous-sol, 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 32 cm
Courses, 2012, oil on canvas, 37 x 44 cm
Cirque, 2012, charcoal on paper, 55 x 65 cm
Tableau, 2012, charcoal on paper, 55 x 65 cm
The Inventory I, 2012, charcoal on tracing paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
The Inventory II, 2012, charcoal on tracing paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
The Inventory III, 2012, charcoal on tracing paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
Sans titre 02, 2012, charcoal on tracing paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
Yaudet, 2012, charcoal on tracing paper and print, 30 x 42 cm
Gauffre�es, 2012, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 42 cm
La jupe, 2012, photograph, 21 x 29,7 cm
Reste, studio view, 2013
Saxifraga umbrosa, Group show, Espace Lhomond, Paris, 2013
Reconstitutions, Solo show, Gallery Dominique Fiat, Paris, 2014
Présents, Solo show, galerie Eric Mircher, 2012
Outresol, Group show, Curators Joël Riff & Mathieu Buard, L’île, Paris, 2013
The Inventory, duo show with Eva Nielsen, LKV, Norway, 2012
56ème Salon de Montrouge, Group show, 2011
2013, october
english version bellow
Mireille Blanc
Born in 1985, Saint-Avold, France
Lives and works in Paris
www.mireilleblanc.com
http://dominiquefiat.com/
Solo shows
2014_ Reconstitutions, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris
2012_ Présents, Galerie Eric Mircher, Paris
The Inventory, duo show with Eva Nielsen, Centre d’Art LKV, Trondheim, Norway
2009_ The black swan, galerie Yukiko Kawase, Paris
Group shows
2014_ Inaugurons avec faste un bocal à poisson rouge, kurt-forever, Paris
Vendanges de Printemps, Chamalot
2013_ Friends & Family (Three days in Paris), galerie Eva Hober, Paris
Outresol, Ile Saint-Louis, Paris / Curators : Joël Riff et Mathieu Buard
Plus jamais seul, Standards, Rennes
Un détour qui nous rapproche, La Graineterie, Houilles / Curator : Morgane Fourey
Saxifraga umbrosa, Espace Lhomond, Paris / Curator : Marianne Derrien
A portée de regard, Les Trinitaires, Metz / Curator : Viviane Zenner
2012_ Man-Made, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris / Curator : Eva Nielsen
Postcards from the Edge, Chaim & Read Gallery, New-York
On ne voit pas le temps passer, Eglise St Maur de Courmelois, Val de Vesle / Curator : Viviane Zenner
Yes to Painting, curated by Rodica Seward, Tajan, Paris
Exhibition of Acquisitions 2012 of Fondation Colas, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris
Exhibition / auctions, Tajan, Monte-Carlo
2011_ 56ème Salon de Montrouge
Auctions, La Fabrique, Montrouge
2010_ Panorama de la Jeune création, 5ème Biennale d’Art contemporain, Pavillon d’Auron, Bourges
Crash Taste, galerie Buy-Sellf, Marseille / Fondation Vasarely, Aix-en-provence
NADA Art Fair, galerie Yukiko Kawase, Miami
Gala Triangle, Marseille
Mémory, Laboratoire 01, Paris sud galerie, Arcueil
Foire Internationale du Dessin, Paris
Salon de mai, Espace Commines, Paris
2009_ Novembre à Vitry, Galerie municipale, Vitry s/Seine
Salon de mai, Espace Commines, Paris
Particules, compagnie TOTum, Nancy
Still painting, Mendes Wood Gallery, Brazil
Lithographies (étudiants ENSBA), Rueil-Malmaison
2008_ Les oublié(e)s, ENSBA, Paris
Exhibition, Painting Prize Noufflard, La Scène Watteau, Nogent s/Marne
ARTéNIM, Foire internationale d’Art contemporain, Nîmes
Salon de mai, Espace Commines, Paris
2007_ Woburn square, Slade School of fine art, Londres
52ème Salon de Montrouge
Retour d’Egypte, ENSBA, Paris
2006_ Drawing Prize, Académie des Beaux Arts, Institut de France, Paris
10/10, Le Caire, Egypt
Echange et mouvement, ENSBA, Paris
2005_ Drawing Prize, Académie des Beaux Arts, Institut de France, Paris
Dans le noir, Galerie Lillebonne, Nancy
Fenêtre sur rue, Petite Galerie, Beaux Arts de Rouen
Awards, grants
2008_ Winner of the Painting Prize André et Berthe Noufflard / Fondation de France
2007_ Socrate Grant, Slade School of Fine Art, Londres
2006_ Winner of the RATP award - Echanges et mouvements, Paris
Residencies
2013_ Chamalot, Résidences d’artistes - with Marine Wallon
2012_ Centre d’Art LKV, Trondheim, Norway - with Eva Nielsen
2010_ Triangle France, Marseille
Collections
Fondation Colas
Private collections (France, USA, Brazil)
Education
2010
Post graduate, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris
2005/2009 Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts de Paris (ENSBA)
DNSAP (Diplôme National Supérieur d’Arts Plastiques), 2009, ENSBA, Paris
2007
Slade School of Fine Art, Londres
DNAP, ENSBA, Paris
2002/2005 Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Nancy (ENSAN)
DNAP, Mention Bien
Publications
Introducing, by Anaël Pigeat, Art press, oct 2013
Vertus de l’art brut pour les contemporains, Art press 2, août, sept. oct. 2013
Focus, La belle revue, avril 2013
Saxifraga Umbrosa, catalog, 2013 - Text by Marianne Derrien
Art Press n° 390, by Anaël Pigeat, about Man-Made, 2012
Mireille Blanc, l’image comme éclipse, by Jérémy Liron, blog Les pas perdus, 2012
Chronique Curiosité - Factures, by Joël Riff, 2012
Carte blanche à Eva Nielsen : Man-Made, by Benoit Blanchard, revue oeuvre (oeuvre-revue.net), avril 2012
Le Journal des Arts, Le tour des galeries parisiennes, by Léa Bismuth, mars 2012
The Inventory, by Birgit Kvamme Lundheim, Centre d’Art LKV / Trondheim, 2012
Tajan, Art contemporain, 2012
56ème Salon de Montrouge - Text by Anaël Pigeat, 2011
Panorama de la jeune création (catalogue), Bourges, 2010
Catalogue des diplômés 2009, Beaux Arts de Paris éditions
Gala Triangle 2010
Salon de mai - 60ème, 61ème, 62ème éditions, 2008 - 2010
52ème Salon de Montrouge, 2007