First monograph.
Myths, fantasies and speculations lie at the heart of Marguerite Humeau's work. Always treading the line between research and fiction, her projects result from in-depth investigations and collaborations with specialists and scientists. At the Palais de Tokyo and Nottingham Contemporary, Humeau is offering a series of unique physical and sensory experiences. Her exhibition FOXP2 is named for the gene whose mutation enabled the arrival of articulate language at the source of our humanity. Here the artist is re-enacting the origins of life and the development of conscious life forms. Imagining a world where giant elephants dominate the planet, Humeau has artificially designed creatures endowed with emotions and consciousness.
Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo.
Bernard Buigues is a French explorer. He has organized numerous expeditions to the North Pole and Siberia. He is the founder of Mammuthus, a scientific program aimed at constructing a record of paleobiodiversity through the collection and preservation of fossils throughout the Siberian Arctic. He defines himself as “a mammoth hunter without weapon.”
Carl Safina is the Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University (NY), where he co-chairs the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and runs the not-for-profit Safina Center. His books include
Beyond Words; What Animals Think and Feel (2015).
Published on the occasion of Marguerite Humeau's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, from June to September 2016, and at Nottingham Contemporary, from October 2016 to January 2017.
Published in cooperation with Les presses du réel, this series of monographic books accompanies the
Palais de Tokyo's exhibition program. Richly illustrated, with many views of the exhibition, accessible to all, each book will offer the reader an extended experience of the encounter with the artists' work. The artists' words will appear alongside original contributions by theoreticians, art critics, and curators, providing the reader with a deeper understanding of each artist's background and of the genesis of their project for the Palais de Tokyo. These books will allow the reader to follow the evolution of the artists' reflection on their work. Reproductions of artworks, preparatory documents, visual references, and studio views will bear witness to each step in the artist's process and accompany interviews and essays.
Born 1986 in France, Marguerite Humeau lives and works in London.
