What interests me in art is its ability to synthesize. The shape of an artwork, what it makes you think of. The volume it occupies. The action needed to move it. The implied references. This is why I love children, they have no prism or preconceptions and get straight to the point. Art is exactly that.
Inspired by Marcel Duchamp and Piet Mondrian, French artist Mathieu Mercier explores the relationship of modernity and the everyday object, recyclingforms in his conceptual artworks that combine humor and aesthetics.
What interests me is the fact that there is no invention in DIY. There is no taking a position, even if there is a possibility. The question is why someone who tinkers, represents, or always remakes existing models, brings the object back to the prototype state already found on the market. The main question is who manages models and for what purposes?
Mathieu Mercier is a contemporary French conceptual artist who uses everyday objects to explore the boundaries between functionality and artistic purposelessness. His work investigates key tropes of modern art and design, bridging media and styles in its interrogation of utopian movements such as De Stijl and Russian Constructivism, all while engaging mass-produced consumer objects. Mercier questions the larger cultural context within which these objects exist, often referencing avant-garde artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Piet Mondrian.
Born in 1970 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, France, Mercier went on to study at the École nationale supérieure d'art in Bourges, among other institutions. He has exhibited at many major museums around the world, including solo shows the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, FRAC in Bourgogne, Centre d’Art Contemporain d’Ivry, and the Kunsthalle Nürmberg, amongst others. In 2003, Mercier was honored with the prestigious Marcel Duchamp award.
He lives and works in Paris, France.
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Mathieu MercierDiptyque XL, 2019acrylic on canvas240 x 200 cm
94 7/16 x 78 11/16 in
2 x 240 x 200 cm -
Mathieu MercierThe King, His Lover and Their Bastard (#2), 2016maple walnut40 x 40 x 4 cm
15 11/16 x 15 11/16 x 1 9/16 in
40 x 40 x 4 cm
32 x 32 x 4 cm
24x 24 x 4 cm -
Mathieu MercierPeinture, 2015acrylic on canvasDiameter: 150.0 cm
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Mathieu MercierTriptyque, 2014acrylic on canvasa)180 x 35 x 10 cm
b) 200 x 109 x 15 cm
c) 185 x 24 x 5 cm -
Mathieu MercierSublimation (Umbrella), 2013 / 2018color palette and corian95 x 25 x 25 cm
37 6/16 x 9 13/16 x 9 13/16 in -
Mathieu MercierSans titre (Grille), 2012métal peinture69 x 57 x 11 cm
27 2/16 x 22 7/16 x 4 5/16 in -
Mathieu MercierSans titre (Corian noir blanc), 2012corian noir & blanc6.5 x 25 x 25 cm
2 8/16 x 9 13/16 x 9 13/16 in -
Mathieu MercierLast day bed, 2012corian160 x 110 x 53 cm
62 15/16 x 43 4/16 x 20 13/16 in -
Mathieu MercierSans titre, 2003-2015masque de baseball acier38 x 30.4 x 30.4 cm
14 15/16 x 11 15/16 x 11 15/16 in -
Mathieu Mercierd&b - D.C. FIX, 2002-2019mixed media50 x 52.5 x 16 cm
19 10/16 x 20 10/16 x 6 4/16 in -
Mathieu Mercierd&b MP, 2002-2019mixed media100 x 91.7 x 29 cm
39 5/16 x 36 1/16 x 11 6/16 in
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Drum and Bass
Mathieu Mercier 6.04 - 5.05.2019 Gallery | Knokke KustlaanThe series Drum & Bass echoes an earlier set of works by Mathieu Mercier titled Still Untitled. These pieces, made from boards found in the street and covered with adhesive,...Read more -
The King, His Lover and Their Bastard
Man Ray - Sherrie Levine - Mathieu Mercier 23.11 - 15.12.2018 Gallery | Paris | FranceMARUANI MERCIER & HADIDA Gallery is pleased to present The King, His Lover and Their Bastard, an exhibition bringing together the works of Man Ray, Sherrie Levine and Mathieu Mercier....Read more
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Rencontre avec Mathieu Mercier, sur son aire de jeu au havre
Mowwgli 7.3.2018Marie-Elisabeth de la Fresnaye pour Mowwgli Le Portique, centre d’art contemporain du Havre, a réouvert en 2017 triplant sa superficie et offrant une nouvelle vitrine...Read more -
MATHIEU MERCIER
Frieze reviews 1.4.2008Christophe Gallois for Frieze - 1 April 2008 Mathieu Mercier’s ZU (2001) is composed of several lines of alphabetical characters that diminish in size as...Read more
