Elsa Sahal
print"I adopted clay because it is a domestic, non-authoritarian material; the body is inseparable from this material. I question this traditional material and I breathe contemporary energy and concerns into it. I seek to exploit its possibilities and its limits. It is a sensitive material, linked to sensuality, to touch".
Often with irony and audacity, Elsa Sahal questions the principles of sculpture but also the modern themes of art from which she draws multiple references. She questions the ways in which the female body is represented and the clichés conveyed by gender. Her figures play with ambiguity, often mixing feminine attributes with phallic forms.
Born in 1975 in Bagnolet, France
Lives and works in Paris, France
Few key dates
2000 Graduated from l'école Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris, she joined the Galerie Papillon.
2007 Residency at the manufacture nationale de Sèvres, develops the work of enamels with high temperature firing.
2008 The Ricard Foundation devoted a solo exhibition to her and she was awarded the MAIF prize for sculpture.
2009 Visiting professor at Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramic.
2013 Residency at Archie Bray Foundation in the Montana. Her works are shown in the exhibition Body & Soul : New International Ceramics at the Museum of Art and Design in New York.
2015-2016 Participates in the Ceramix exhibition at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht and at the Maison Rouge in Paris.
2017 First solo show at The Pill, a gallery that represents her in Turkey.
2017-2018 Her work is featured in the exhibition Women House at the Monnaie de Paris and at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington.
2018 6th solo exhibition at the Galerie Papillon - curator Gaël Charbau.
2019 First solo show at Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York who represents her in the United States.
2020 Participates in the exhibition Picasso, baigneuses et baigneurs at the musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon.
2021 Participates in the exhibition Les flammes. L'age de la céramique, Musée d'art moderne, Paris.
2022 Participates in the exhibitions Toucher Terre, l'Art de la sculpture céramique, Fondation Villa Datris et à Contre-nature au MO.CO
In public collections : Centre national des arts plastiques, Fonds d'art contemporain ' Paris Collections, Fonds régional d'art contemporain Normandie Caen.
Recent press
"When others are leading the return to painting, Sahal embodies the return to sculpture and the revival of ceramics. Her work questions the representation of feminine and sexual forms, with great sensitivity and humor, even a certain militancy."
Fabien Simode, in L'âil, Dec. 2020
"Over the past decade, French ceramicist Elsa Sahal has conceived a universe where ostensible contradictions ' abstraction versus figuration, male versus female, adorable versus abject ' are reconciled into a variety of unsettling biomorphic forms."
Mara Hoberman in Artforum, February 2013
Mara Hoberman, in Artforum.
Solo exhibitions
2021
Hommage à Jambes Arp, Galerie Papillon, Paris
Vénus Jouissante Polymathe, presentation in the fountain of the patio of La Panacée, La Panacée-MO.CO., Montpellier
âXâ (with Jesse Mockrin), Nathalie Karg Gallery, New-York, U.S.A.
2020
These boots are made for walking, Centre d'art La Chapelle Jeanne d'Arc, Thouars
2019
Elsa Sahal. Harlequins and Bathers, Nathalie Karg Gallery, New-York, U.S.A.
Equinoxes 2, Boutique Camille Fournet, Paris
2018
Elsa Sahal des origines à nos jours, Galerie Papillon, Paris
2017
Soft is the new strong, Galerie the Pill, Istanbul, Turkey
2016
Self-portait as a frog wearing a trikini, Moments artistiques, Paris
Femminus Ceramicus, Le Carré, Scène Nationale d'Art Contemporain, Chateau-Gontier
2015
Pole Dance, Galerie Papillon, Paris
2014
Festival International d'Art de Toulouse, Hôtel-Dieu, Toulouse
2012
Elsa Sahal, Galerie Papillon, Paris
Fontaine, installation FIAC Hors-les-murs 2012, bassin Vivier nord, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris
2011
Galerie de l'Hôtel de Ville, Chinon
Collège des Bernardins, Paris
2009
Elsa Sahal, Galerie Papillon, Paris
2008
Sculptures, Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris
2007
Galerie municipale du Rutebeuf, Clichy-la-Garenne
2005
L'Idieu, Galerie du Collège Marcel Duchamp within the framework of the Biennale d'art contemporain et céramique, Chateauroux
Iles, Galerie Papillon, Paris, France
Crypte de l'Espace Culturel François Mitterrand organisée par l'école des Beaux-Arts à Beauvais
2002
Sculptures, Galerie Papillon-Fiat, Paris
Dessins et sculptures, Musée National de la porcelaine Adrien Dubouché, l'ENAD, Limoges
Group exhibitions
2024
Faire corps, Fondation Villa Datris, Paris
2023
Unrequited love, Nathalie Karg gallery, New York, USA
Experience Pommery #17: Forever, Domaine de Pommery, Reims
I've got a feeling, les 5 sens dans l'art contemporains, Musée des Beaux Arts d'Angers, Angers
De leur temps (7), un regard sur des collections privées, Frac Grand Large Hauts-de- France, Dunkerque
Enchanter la terre, Chateau du Rivau, Lémeré
Toucher Terre, Espace Monté Cristo, Paris
Pour l'amour de l'Antique : en finir avec la Renaissance / hommage à Paul Veyne, Hotel Puyrigard d'Agar, Cavaillon
2022
Toucher Terre, l'Art de la sculpture céramique, Villa Datris
Mauvais Genres, Le Parvis, Tarbes
Centre de céramique contemporaine, La Borne
MO.CO Panacée, Montpellier
2021
Les flammes. L'age de la céramique, Musée d'art moderne, Paris
Rencontres inattendues, 20th arrondissement town hall, Paris
2020
Re-Cloune, Le Safran, Amiens
Le Voyage à Nantes 2020, Place Royale, Nantes
Les Extatiques, La Seine Musicale, Boulogne-Billancourt
Picasso, Baigneuses et Baigneurs, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon
Street Trash : l'effet spécial de la sculpture / sculpture as special effect, Friche de La Belle de Mai, Marseille
2019
Beyond the Vessel, MeÅher, Istanbul, Turkey
Topor n'est pas mort, Galerie Anne Barrault, Paris
Some Of Us, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Budelsdorf, Germany
Clayborn, Galerie Lefebvre & Fils, Paris
Cloune ' Guillaume Pinard et Elsa Sahal, Galerie Raymond Hans ' école des Beaux-Arts, Pays de Saint-Brieuc
2018
Mademoiselle, CRAC Occitanie, Sète
Leurs printemps, Galerie Papillon, Paris
Totalement DésARçonné Saison 5, Chateau de Maisons-Lafitte, Maisons-Lafitte, France Commissariat d'Amélie Adamo
Sculpter (faire à l'atelier), Frac Bretagne, Rennes
Women house, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, U.S.A.
2017
Women house, La Monnaie de Paris. Commissariat de Camille Morineau et Lucia Pesapane, Paris
Les retrouvailles, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Brest. Commissariat de Guillaume Pinard, Brest
POINT QUARTZ- Flower of Kent; La Villa Arson, Nice
Surreal House, Galerie The Pill, Istanbul, Turkey
2016
Athanor, Petite suite alchimique #1, CRAC, Sète
Core Sample, Alfred Ceramic Art Museum, New York, U.S.A.
Ceramix, La Maison Rouge, Paris
198920072016, Galerie Papillon, Paris
2015
Ceramix, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands
Le Banquet - Révélations, Grand Palais, Paris
The housebreaker (Le cambrioleur), Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia
Still Life, Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
élévations, Palais idéal du Facteur cheval, Hauterives
OTIUM : De Mineralis, pierres de vision, Institut d'art Contemporain, Villeurbanne Rhône-Alpes
Genre idéal ?, Parcours privé de la FIAC, Maison Guerlain, Paris
2014
Terrae Incognitae, Galerie accroTerre, Paris
La Loutre et la Poutre, Moly ' Sabata, Sablons
2013
Bodies Speaking Out: New International Ceramics, Museum of Art and design, New York, U.S.A.
Song Eun Art Space, Seoul, South Korea
One Million Years, Jardin des Plantes, Paris
2012
Perturbations, parcours céramique et verre contemporain, Musée Fabre, Montpellier
Festival a-part, Les Baux-de-Provence
2011
Dreamtime 3, HabitéR, Grotte du Mas-d'Azil / les Abattoirs, Toulouse
Cabinet de curiosités, Maison Champs élysées, Martin Margiela, Paris
3rd Biennale de sculpture, Yerres
2010
Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris
Circuits Céramiques, Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris
2009
La conquête de la modernité - Sèvres 1920-2008, Palazzo Cafarelli, Rome, Faenza, Italy
Avoir 20 ans à voir, Galerie Papillon
2008
Des certitudes, sans doute(s), une collection privée d'art contemporain, Musée de Picardie, école supérieure d'art et de design, Amiens
Pink, Cyborg and Imperfect structure, International Women artists Biennale Incheon, South Korea
2007
Maniera, techniques et persuasion, Maison de la Culture de Nevers et de la Nièvre (MCNN), Nevers
Premio Internazionale Giovane Scultura Fondazione Francesco Messina Prima Edizione, Materima Casabeltrame, Italie ' Lauréate du Prix de la jeune sculpture
Mutatis, Mutandis, collection Antoine de Galbert, la maison rouge, Paris
Place des Arts, la Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
2006
Fictions Céramiques, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen
Human Size, Taille Humaine, Orangerie and jardins du Luxembourg, Paris
Carton rouge, atelier Tampon ' Ramier, Paris
2005
Trans-Ceramic-Art, Biennale de Céramique, I-Chon, South Korea
Rouge Gorge, exhibition of drawings of moods, la Maison Folie Wazemmes, Lille
A Tables, Domaine de Chamarande in the Essonne
Ceramic Biennial, Chateauroux
Le corps, l'atelier, le paysage, Nouvelle Biennale de Chateauroux, Chateauroux
2004
Les mêmes et même quelques autres, Galerie Papillon, Paris
2003
Fragile, les 20 ans des FRAC, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
Lignes singulières, Centre d'art Le Triage, Nanterre
2002
Juste pour voir, Musée National de la porcelaine Adrien Dubouché, Limoges
2001
Dessin en coursâ¦Ã l'école des Beaux-arts : Exhibition of contemporary drawings in echo to the heritage exhibition : Drawing in France in the 17th century, ENSBA, Paris
2000
Åuvres de tous poils, Galerie Papillon, Paris
1999
Alter Ego, collaborations between Thai and European artists, organized by the European Delegation in Southeast Asia, the AFAA, and the French Embassy, Bangkok, Thailand
Awards
2013
Georges Coulon Prize for Sculpture, awarded by the Institut de France upon proposal of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
Nominated for the Meurice Prize for Contemporary Art 2013
2008
MAIF Prize for sculpture
2007
Prize for contemporary sculpture, Fondation Francesco Messina, Casabeltrame, Italy
Public collections
2021
Frac Normandie, Caen
2020 et 2009
Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris
2017
Fonds d'art contemporain - Paris Collection
2008
Musée de Picardie, Amiens
Public and private commissions
2020
Collection nationale d'art contemporain (Cnap), Paris, France
2019
Creation of a work in collaboration with the workshop of the maison Camille Fournet as part of the Equinoxes 2 project, Maison Camille Fournet, 5 rue Cambon, Paris, France
2018
Des jardins perdus, work realized within the framework of the 1% artistic, Collège Germaine Tillon, Livry-Gargan, France
2017
Delta, Ambassade franco-allemande de Dacca, Bangladesh, India
2008
Collection nationale d'art contemporain (Cnap), Paris
Residencies et Grants
2018
Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramic, New York, U.S.A.
2013
Archie Bray Foundation, Montana, U.S.A.
2009 - 2010
Alfred University, New York State College of Ceramic, New York, U.S.A.
Mastère création et technologies contemporaines, ENSCI, Paris
2007-2008
Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres, France
2005
Collège Marcel Duchamp, école d'Art de Chateauroux, France
2002
Manufacture La Reine à Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche, Limousin, France
2001
Seoul National University, South Korea
Usine de céramique Alain Vagh, Salernes
Teaching
Depuis 2014
Professor at the école Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Versailles
2012-2015
Professor at the école Nationale Supérieure d'Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg
2010
Conference at Unesco within the framework of the symposium "territories in movement" organized by the International Academy of Ceramics
2008
Conference at the Haute école d'Art et de Design, Geneva
Studies
2010
Mastère création et technologies contemporaines, ENSCI, Paris
1994 - 2000
école Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris