Anne & Patrick Poirier

By 2 July 2019 Artists

ANNE AND PATRICK POIRIER

ANNE AND PATRICK POIRIER

Biography

Anne and Patrick Poirier, who were born respectively in Marseille in 1941 and in Nantes in 1942, are among the most famous couples on the international art scene and their creative symbiosis developed in Italy. Winners of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1967, after studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, Anne and Patrick were artists in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome (1968-1972), at invitation of the former director Balthus. From the very beginning of that residency, they decided to combine their artistic vision and jointly sign their works. Eclectic artists, travelers, and passionate explorers of ancient civilizations, they collect materials like modern archaeologists. Critical of the contemporary era, they call upon the great collective narratives of the past to express metaphorical meanings linked to the reality. Their heterogeneous body of work (installations, sculptures, photographs, works on paper) highlights the fragility and transience of anthropological time, outlining a continuum between past and future, individual memory and collective history.
In more than fifty years of joint work, their solo exhibitions have been held in some of the most important international museums and institutions: Ludwig Museum, Koblenz (2022); Musée de La Roche-sur-Yon (2022); MRAC-Musée régional d’art contemporain Occitanie, Sérignan (2021);

Château La Coste, Le Puy-Sanite-Réparade (2021); Abbaye du Thoronet (2021); The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, Rome (2019); De Pont Museum, Tilburg (2018); Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (2018); Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2017); Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, Wuppertal (2016); Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne (2016); Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton (2015); Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art Donna Regina, Naples (2011); Villa Medicea La Magia, Quarrata (2006); Kunstmuseum, Thun (2003); Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (1999); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (1999); Museum Moderner Kunst Ludwig, Vienna (1994); Maison de la Culture, Grenoble (1985); The Brooklyn Museum, New York (1984); Chiesa di San Carpoforo, Milan (1984); Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris (1983); MoMA PS1, New York (1980); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1978); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1978); CAPC, Bordeaux (1977); Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (1977), Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen (1973).
They have taken part in numerous international events such as: the Havana Biennial (2006); Valencia Biennial (2003); Busan Biennale (2002); Lyon Biennale (2000); Istanbul Biennial (1987); documenta, Kassel (1977); Venice Biennale (1984, 1980, 1976).

After the election happened in June 2021, and the official investiture ceremony held on 26 October 2022, Anne Poirier is member of the Sculpture section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris; Patrick has been elected “corresponding” member of the same section of the Academy.
Since the beginning of 2017 they have been represented in Italy by Galleria Fumagalli. In the same year the Gallery dedicated a solo exhibition to them, entitled “Dystopia”, and joined the publication of the monograph “Anne et Patrick Poirier” (ed. Flammarion) together with Maison Européenne de la Photographie and Galerie Mitterrand, Paris. In 2021 they were involved in the exhibition program “MY30YEARS – Coherency in Diversity”, conceived and curated by Lóránd Hegyi, which celebrates Annamaria Maggi’s 30-year career at the helm of the Gallery. Their work was exhibited in the first and the third group show of the program. In January 2023 the due comes back to Milan with the exhibition project “Hommage à Dante: Enfer, Purgatoire, Paradis”, curated by Lóránd Hegyi and Angela Madesani, and hosted at Casa degli Artisti, Galleria Fumagalli and Antonini Milano – Palazzo Borromeo.

View curriculum →

Biography

Anne and Patrick Poirier, who were born respectively in Marseille in 1941 and in Nantes in 1942, are among the most famous couples on the international art scene and their creative symbiosis developed in Italy. Winners of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1967, after studying at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, Anne and Patrick were artists in residence at the Villa Medici in Rome (1968-1972), at invitation of the former director Balthus. From the very beginning of that residency, they decided to combine their artistic vision and jointly sign their works. Eclectic artists, travelers, and passionate explorers of ancient civilizations, they collect materials like modern archaeologists. Critical of the contemporary era, they call upon the great collective narratives of the past to express metaphorical meanings linked to the reality. Their heterogeneous body of work (installations, sculptures, photographs, works on paper) highlights the fragility and transience of anthropological time, outlining a continuum between past and future, individual memory and collective history.

In more than fifty years of joint work, their solo exhibitions have been held in some of the most important international museums and institutions: Ludwig Museum, Koblenz (2022); Musée de La Roche-sur-Yon (2022); MRAC-Musée régional d’art contemporain Occitanie, Sérignan (2021); Château La Coste, Le Puy-Sanite-Réparade (2021); Abbaye du Thoronet (2021); The French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, Rome (2019); De Pont Museum, Tilburg (2018); Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (2018); Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris (2017); Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, Wuppertal (2016); Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne (2016); Musée Jean Cocteau, Menton (2015); Espace Louis Vuitton, Tokyo (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art Donna Regina, Naples (2011); Villa Medicea La Magia, Quarrata (2006); Kunstmuseum, Thun (2003); Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (1999); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (1999); Museum Moderner Kunst Ludwig, Vienna (1994); Maison de la Culture, Grenoble (1985); The Brooklyn Museum, New York (1984); Chiesa di San Carpoforo, Milan (1984); Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris (1983); MoMA PS1, New York (1980); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (1978); Centre Pompidou, Paris (1978); CAPC, Bordeaux (1977); Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (1977), Neue Galerie-Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen (1973).
They have taken part in numerous international events such as: the Havana Biennial (2006); Valencia Biennial (2003); Busan Biennale (2002); Lyon Biennale (2000); Istanbul Biennial (1987); documenta, Kassel (1977); Venice Biennale (1984, 1980, 1976).
After the election happened in June 2021, and the official investiture ceremony held on 26 October 2022, Anne Poirier is member of the Sculpture section of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris; Patrick has been elected “corresponding” member of the same section of the Academy.

Since the beginning of 2017 they have been represented in Italy by Galleria Fumagalli. In the same year the Gallery dedicated a solo exhibition to them, entitled “Dystopia”, and joined the publication of the monograph “Anne et Patrick Poirier” (ed. Flammarion) together with Maison Européenne de la Photographie and Galerie Mitterrand, Paris. In 2021 they were involved in the exhibition program “MY30YEARS – Coherency in Diversity”, conceived and curated by Lóránd Hegyi, which celebrates Annamaria Maggi’s 30-year career at the helm of the Gallery. Their work was exhibited in the first and the third group show of the program. In January 2023 the due comes back to Milan with the exhibition project “Hommage à Dante: Enfer, Purgatoire, Paradis”, curated by Lóránd Hegyi and Angela Madesani, and hosted at Casa degli Artisti, Galleria Fumagalli and Antonini Milano – Palazzo Borromeo.

View curriculum →

Works

Anne and Patrick Poirier, Surprise Party, 1995
Globe, Suitcases, record player, stereo, speakers, 110x75x40 cm. ©Adagp, Paris

Works

Anne and Patrick Poirier, Surprise Party, 1995. Globe, Suitcases, record player, stereo, speakers, 1

Press

Le Figaro

29 April 2019
“Les Poirier ou l’éternel retour à Rome”

Read the article  →

Arte

October 2017
“Coppia d’oro. Anne & Patrick Poirier”

Read the article  →

Le Quotidien de l’Art

12 September 2017
“Anne & Patrick Poirier, photographes de l’intranquillité”

Read the article  →

Le Monde

7 September 2017
“Les images révélatrices d’Anne et Patrick Poirier”

Read the article  →

Art absolument

October 2014
“Anne et Patrick Poirier. La mémoire et le temps”

Read the article  →

Connaissance des Arts

2010
“Les sens des oeuvres”

Read the article  →

Press

Le Figaro

29 April 2019
“Les Poirier ou l’éternel retour à Rome”

Read the article  →

Arte

October 2017
“Coppia d’oro. Anne & Patrick Poirier”

Read the article  →

Le Quotidien de l’Art

12 September 2017
“Anne & Patrick Poirier, photographes de l’intranquillité”

Read the article  →

Le Monde

7 September 2017
“Les images révélatrices d’Anne et Patrick Poirier”

Read the article  →

Art absolument

October 2014
“Anne et Patrick Poirier. La mémoire et le temps”

Read the article  →

Connaissance des Arts

2010
“Les sens des oeuvres”

Read the article  →

Exhibition

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

ANNE E PATRICK POIRIER
Hommage à Dante: Enfer, Purgatoire, Paradis

2023
Casa degli Artisti – Galleria Fumagalli – Antonini Milano

Exhibition  →

ANNE AND PATRICK POIRIER
Dystopia

Opening 21 September 2017
22 September to 20 December 2017

Exhibition  →

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Ironia – Temporalità – Déplacement

Opening 17 November, 2021
18 November, 2021 to 4 February, 2022

Exhibition  →

Architettura – Spazialità – Artefatto

Opening 26 May 2021
26 May to 30 July 2021

Exhibition  →

Exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

ANNE E PATRICK POIRIER
Hommage à Dante: Enfer, Purgatoire, Paradis

2023
Casa degli Artisti – Galleria Fumagalli – Antonini Milano

Exhibition  →

ANNE AND PATRICK POIRIER
Dystopia

Opening 21 September 2017
22 September to 20 December 2017

Exhibition  →

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Ironia – Temporalità – Déplacement

Opening 17 November, 2021
18 November, 2021 to 4 February, 2022

Exhibition  →

Architettura – Spazialità – Artefatto

Opening 26 May 2021
26 May to 30 July 2021

Exhibition  →

Institutions

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