Gaëlle Choisne wins the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024
On Monday October 14, French artist Gaëlle Choisne was awarded the Prix Marcel Duchamp 2024. Her multimedia installation, which fuses her interest in the occult sciences, care and the living, can be seen at the Centre Pompidou until January 6.
Artist Gaëlle Choisne stands out for her innovative project presented in one of the Centre Pompidou’s galleries. A strange island of earth, adorned with five mounds, takes pride of place in the center. Atop each mound, ceramic shells house videos and stories imbued with mysticism. This installation perfectly illustrates Choisne’s vision of combining art and spirituality.
Art and mysticism
For nearly ten years, the artist has been exploring the links between the human and the living through a variety of media. She uses painting, sculpture, collage and video. Her works often incorporate elements such as shells, exotic fruits, talismans and charms. Her inspiration comes from rituals, Creole mythology and the occult sciences, notably astrology and cartomancy. His project for the Centre Pompidou is entitled L’Ère du Verseau.
Choisne’s films, a mix of documentary and fiction, deal with the colonial history of Haiti. As her mother was originally from the island, she is interested in the traces left by slavery and the oppression of Afrodescendant populations. Her project at the Centre Pompidou features projections, called “Ruches”, on a central island. At the far end, large wooden boards display cut-out photos and cryptic inscriptions. Also on display are her Pause-clopes, mini-altars where she deposits cigarettes found in China.
Gaëlle Choisne’s works evoke care, love and hospitality. They combine gentleness and memory, evoking anonymous, forgotten faces. Choisne transforms the exhibition space into a protected place. She affirms, “I create my own spaces, my safe spaces.”
The Prix Marcel Duchamp, created in 2000, rewards a French contemporary artist each year. Past winners have included such renowned names as Clément Cogitore and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. The finalists’ exhibition, featuring Choisne’s work alongside that of Abdelkader Benchamma and Noémie Goudal, runs at the Centre Pompidou until January 6, 2025.
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