Agnès Thurnauer

Agnès Thurnauer was born in 1962, in Paris, France, where she continues to live and work.{{Cite book|title = Agnès Thurnauer, Now|last1 = Dirié|first1 = Clément|publisher = monografik éditions|year = 2008|isbn =978-2-916545-56-1 |location = Blou|pages = 162–185|last2 = Lebovici|first2 = Elisabeth|last3 = Sausset|first3 = Daniel|language = fr}} She attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, where she studied cinema and video art.{{Cite news|url = http://www.lefigaro.fr/arts-expositions/2009/10/24/03015-20091024ARTFIG00079--les-mandarins-de-l-art-contemporain-.php|title = Les mandarins de l'art contemporain|last = Simons|first = Pauline|date = 24 October 2009|work = Le Figaro|access-date = 21 March 2015|language = fr|issn = 0182-5852}}{{Cite journal|url = http://critiquedart.revues.org/632|title = Portrait. Agnès Thurnauer|date = 10 February 2012|access-date = 10 March 2015|journal = Critique d'art|last = Boulbès|first = Carole| issue=33 | doi=10.4000/critiquedart.632 |doi-access = free}}

Big-Big et Bang-Bang are a series of abstract acrylic paintings in subtle colour tones on canvas created by Thurnauer between 1995 and 1996.{{Cite book|title = Agnès Thurnauer|last = de Chassey|first = Éric|publisher = Maison d'Art contemporain Chailloux|year = 1996|isbn = 2-909686-10-8|location = Cachan|pages = Foreword}} The works were created with the canvases stapled to the wall. The paintings were only mounted on frames when complete, for the purposes of display and preservation.{{Cite book|title = Agnès Thurnauer|last = Berrebi|first = Sophie|publisher = Institut français d'Ecosse|year = 1998|location = Edinburgh|pages = 17}}

File:Agnès Thurnauer Portraits grandeur nature.jpg

In 2007, Thurnauer first exhibited her work Portraits grandeur nature, a series of oversized buttons (each 120 cm in diameter) in resin and epoxy paint displaying the names of well-known artists, mostly male, transformed into names evoking the opposite gender. For example, Marcel Duchamp becomes Marcelle Duchamp and Andy Warhol becomes Annie Warhol. An exception is the button reading Louis Bourgeois, a masculinized version of the name of the artist Louise Bourgeois.{{Cite web|url = http://fresques.ina.fr/elles-centrepompidou/fiche-media/ArtFem00070/agnes-thurnauer-portraits-grandeur-nature-2007-2008.html|title = Agnès Thurnauer, Portraits Grandeur Nature, 2007-2008|date = 2007|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = elles@centrepompidou|publisher = Centre Pompidou}} This work, which questions both the literal and figurative representation of women in art, propelled her to previously unattained notoriety as an artist.{{Cite web|url=http://creative.arte.tv/en/community/la-collection-agnes-thurnauer-ou-le-surgissement-de-letre-peinture |title=La Collection : Agnès Thurnauer ou "le surgissement de l'être peinture" |date=16 August 2012 |access-date=10 March 2015 |website=Arte |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103628/http://creative.arte.tv/en/community/la-collection-agnes-thurnauer-ou-le-surgissement-de-letre-peinture |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}File:Agnès Thurnauer Predelles.jpg

Beginning in 2007, Thurnauer produced a series of works, called Prédelle (the French term for predella). The Grande Prédelle incarnations, produced from 2008 to 2011, are diptychs, each depicting a large feathered wing along a deformation of the iconic title of the magazine Elle.{{Cite web|url = https://www.centrepompidou.fr/cpv/resource/c6rbxM4/rjABeL|title = Prédelle (Rainbow Elbow)|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Centre Pompidou}} The title and subject convey a multiple play on words, simultaneously acting as a homonym for "près d'elle" and "aile", respectively meaning "close to her" and "wing" in French.{{Cite news|title = On the wings of painting|last = Hindry|first = Ann|date = 2009|work = Musée d'Angers Press Release}} Cyclicly, each Grande Prédelle painting has its own palette glued to it as a finishing touch.{{Cite book|title = Thurnauer à Angers|last = Le Nouëne|first = Patrick|publisher = Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Angers|year = 2009|isbn = 978-2-35293-000-6|location = Angers|pages = 2–3|chapter = Brief introductory foreword to the Agnès Thurnauer exhibition embedded in the permanent collections of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Angers|translator = Elaine Briggs|translator2 = Charles Penwarden}}

File:Agnès Thurnauer Olympia 2.jpeg

In 2013, Thurnauer was invited by Yale University to participate in an exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of two masterpieces by Édouard Manet (Olympia and Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, 1863). Thurnauer contributed the painting Olympia#2, which features a rendition of Manet's Olympia with textual terms of endearment superimposed upon the image.{{Cite news|url = http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/09/23/aeolympiadae-celebrates-modernist-masterpieces/|title = 'Olympiad' celebrates modernist masterpieces|last = Jones|first = Sara|date = 13 September 2013|work = Yale Daily News|access-date = 15 March 2015}} Thurnauer was also a speaker at the associated conference.

During a period of two months in 2015, Jesus College at the University of Cambridge replaced three portraits of male alumni in the formal dining hall with a crayon drawing triptych by Thurnauer, called You. These large portraits of women are extractions from paintings by Manet: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, The Railway (of painter Victorine Louise Meurent), and another portrait of Meurent.{{Cite news|url = http://www.varsity.co.uk/news/8146|title = Jesus installs female portraits|last = Schoefer|first = Till|date = 30 January 2015|work = Varsity|access-date = 23 March 2015}} Central to Thurnauer's choice of Manet's work as a starting point is the notion that his female subjects were themselves painters, as opposed to models. Inevitably, the subjects' regards captured in the paintings are therefore those of Manet's professional peers looking upon him as he worked.{{Cite news|url = http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Esteemed-men-make-way-women-Jesus-College-s-Great/story-25914232-detail/story.html|title = Esteemed men make way for women at Jesus College's Great Hall|date = 26 January 2015|work = Cambridge News|access-date = 23 March 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402114954/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Esteemed-men-make-way-women-Jesus-College-s-Great/story-25914232-detail/story.html|archive-date = 2015-04-02|url-status = dead}} This marked the first time that Thurnauer's work was shown in the United Kingdom.{{Cite news|url = http://www.cam.ac.uk/for-staff/news/female-portraits-oust-men-in-jesus-college|title = You – an exhibition by Agnès Thurnauer.|date = 22 January 2015|work = University of Cambridge, For staff|access-date = 10 March 2015}}File:Agnès Thurnauer Matrice.jpg

The work Matrice/sol consists of moulds of letters of the alphabet made from resin. Through the characters created from the negative space of the moulds, the work is intended to demonstrate that art is a question of interpretation and language, elements that change constantly.{{Cite web|url=https://institutfrancais.sk/fr/actualites/461/exposition-agnes-thurnauer/|title=Exposition " Agnès Thurnauer : Le pays et la langue " à Kunsthalle LAB — Institut Français de Slovaquie|website=institutfrancais.sk|language=fr|access-date=2017-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107012029/https://institutfrancais.sk/fr/actualites/461/exposition-agnes-thurnauer/|archive-date=2017-11-07|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://feministesentousgenres.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2012/10/12/exposition-the-hidden-mother-a-l-atelier-galerie-rouart-brac.html|title=Exposition roman psychanalytique The Hidden Mother à l'atelier Rouart, 12 octobre-17 novembre 2012|last=Duverger|first=Sylvia|date=October 22, 2012|website=Féministes en tous genres|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208123530/http://feministesentousgenres.blogs.nouvelobs.com/archive/2012/10/12/exposition-the-hidden-mother-a-l-atelier-galerie-rouart-brac.html|archive-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=dead}}

Thurnauer continues to challenge the relevance of the medium of painting today, which remains her staple despite ventures into other methods. For Thurnauer, a painting is not simply a passive surface displaying an image. Rather, it is a means to an active experience for the viewer.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.agnesthurnauer.net/content/04-press/27-nantes-bayeux-paris-agnes-thurnauer/art-press-agnes-thurnauer.pdf |title=Nantes, Bayeux, Paris: Agnès Thurnauer |last=Hindry |first=Ann |date=June 2014 |journal=Artpress |access-date=10 March 2015 |issue=412 |issn=0245-5676 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402095924/http://www.agnesthurnauer.net/content/04-press/27-nantes-bayeux-paris-agnes-thurnauer/art-press-agnes-thurnauer.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2015 }} She has stated that she is interested in working with paint, an ordinary, inanimate object, as a means of confronting one's intemporality.

Thurnauer has long been fascinated with language, as evidenced by the recurring theme of wordplay, text and symbols in her work.{{Cite book|title=Agnès Thurnauer: The place is the word, the word is the place|last=Pires do Vale|first=Paulo|publisher=Galerie Fernand Leger|year=2016|location=Ivry-sur-Seine|pages=27–29}} She has been considered as a distant successor to the Art & Language movement.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2014/04/30/agnes-thurnauer-arpente-le-langage-et-l-histoire-de-la-peinture_4409505_3246.html|title=Agnès Thurnauer arpente le langage de la peinture|last=Bellet|first=Harry|date=30 April 2014|website=Le Monde|access-date=31 August 2016}}

Thurnauer considers the medium of painting to be a "place of speech". Her interpretation of this idea transcends the physical appearance of text in paintings, implying the materialization of thought itself. In her sculpture, Matrice/Sol, she employs letters moulded from resin, not merely as literal tools, but as spatial delimiters whose interstices form an expanse within which one can circulate.

• 2001 Pour en venir au monde,{{Cite book|title = Agnès Thurnauer: Pour en venir au monde|last1 = Wajcman|first1 = Gérard|publisher = Le CREDAC|year = 2001|isbn = 9782907643948|location = Ivry-sur-Seine|language = fr|last2 = Domino|first2 = Christophe}} Le Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
• 2003 Les circonstances ne sont pas atténuantes, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
• 2003 Maintenant avant après, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
• 2004 Don't pretend you've never heard of it, Springhornhof, Neuekirchen, Germany
• 2005 I will survive, Wim Reiff Gallery, Maastricht, Netherlands
• 2006 Around a round, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
• 2007 Bien faite, mal faite, pas faite,{{Cite web|url=http://smak.be/tentoonstelling.php?la=en&id=362 |title=Bien faite, mal faite, pas faite (well done, badly done, not done) Project XX Story for the S.M.A.K. |access-date=10 March 2015 |website=S.M.A.K. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402151957/http://smak.be/tentoonstelling.php?la=en&id=362 |archive-date=2 April 2015 }} S.M.A.K., Ghent, Belgium
• 2008 Portraits grandeur nature,{{Cite web|url = http://www.ccc-art.com/node/77?artist=38|title = Agnès Thurnauer|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = CCC|language = fr}} Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris
• 2009 Thurnauer à Angers,{{Cite web|url = http://www.angers.fr/fileadmin/plugin/tx_dcddownloads/CP_Femmes.pdf|title = Les Femmes au Musée|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Angers|language = fr|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402134042/http://www.angers.fr/fileadmin/plugin/tx_dcddownloads/CP_Femmes.pdf|archive-date = 2 April 2015|url-status = dead}} Musée des beaux-arts d'Angers, Angers, France
• 2010 May I?,{{Cite web|url = http://www.emerige.com/fr/art-mecenat/|title = Rétrospective|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Emerige|language = fr|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402221152/http://www.emerige.com/fr/art-mecenat/|archive-date = 2015-04-02|url-status = dead}} Villa Emerige, Paris
• 2011 Manifestement,{{Cite journal|url = http://www.galeriederoussan.com/cspdocs/press/files/ARTPRESS_385_AT.pdf|title = Agnès Thurnauer, Manifestement|last = Couturier|first = Elisabeth|date = January 2012|journal = Artpress|access-date = 10 March 2015|issue = 385|issn = 0245-5676|language = fr}} Espace d'Art Contemporain André Malraux, Colmar, France
• 2011 Sujet, verbe et compléments,{{Cite web|url = http://www.art-immanence.org/spip.php?article22|title = Sujet, verbe, et compléments|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = immanence|language = fr}} Immanence, Paris
• 2014 Figure libre,{{Cite web|url = http://v1.le-radar.fr/upload/specif_expos/pdf/628.pdf|title = Agnès Thurnauer " Figure libre "|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Le Radar|language = fr|archive-date = 3 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225332/http://v1.le-radar.fr/upload/specif_expos/pdf/628.pdf|url-status = dead}} Le Radar, Centre d'art Contemporain, Bayeux, France
• 2014 Now When Then - de Tintoret à Tuymans,{{Cite web|url = http://www.museedesbeauxarts.nantes.fr/cache/bypass/Accueil/Expositions/AVenir?containerId=73500|title = Now when then, de Tintoret à Tuymans|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Musée de Beaux-Arts de Nantes|language = fr}} Musée des beaux-arts de Nantes, Nantes
• 2014 Sleepwalking,{{Cite web|url = http://www.galeriederoussan.com/cspdocs/exhibition/files/GdR%20-%20PR%20A.%20Thurnauer%20-%20Sleepwalking%20.pdf|title = Press release: Agnès Thurnauer Solo Show|access-date = 10 March 2015|website = Galerie de Roussan}} Galerie de Roussan, Paris
• 2015 You,{{Cite web|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/for-staff/news/female-portraits-oust-men-in-jesus-college|title=Female portraits oust men in Jesus College {{!}} University of Cambridge|date=2016-03-03|website=University of Cambridge|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172742/http://www.cam.ac.uk/for-staff/news/female-portraits-oust-men-in-jesus-college|archive-date=2016-03-03|access-date=2016-03-03}} Jesus College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
• 2016 A History of Painting, Château de Montsoreau-Museum of contemporary art, Montsoreau, France

• 2004 FIAC, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
• 2005 Biennale de Lyon,{{Cite web|url = http://2005.labiennaledelyon.com/fran/artistes/thurna.htm|title = Agnès Thurnauer|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = Biennale de Lyon 2005|language = fr|archive-date = 3 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201519/http://2005.labiennaledelyon.com/fran/artistes/thurna.htm|url-status = dead}} Lyon
• 2006 Notre histoire, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
• 2009 elles@centrepompidou,{{Cite web|url = http://fresques.ina.fr/elles-centrepompidou/fiche-media/ArtFem00254/agnes-thurnauer.html|title = Agnès Thurnauer|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = elles@centrepompidou}} Centre Pompidou, Paris
• 2013 Drawing Now,{{Cite web|url = http://www.ouvretesyeux.fr/2013/04/09/agnes-thurnauer-drawing-now-paris-galerie-de-roussan-carrousel-du-louvre-du-11-au-140413/|title = Agnès Thurnauer, Drawing Now Paris, galerie de Roussan, Carrousel du Louvre, du 11 au 14/04/13|date = 9 April 2013|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = ouvretesyeux|language = fr}} Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
• 2013 Lunch with Olympia,{{Cite news|url = http://news.yale.edu/2013/09/10/yale-marks-150th-anniversary-manet-s-landmark-paintings|title = Yale marks 150th anniversary of Manet's landmark paintings|last = McDonald|first = Amy Athey|date = 10 September 2013|work = YaleNews|access-date = 10 March 2015}} Edgewood Gallery, Yale School of Art, USA
• 2013 Jardin de langage, Fondation Poppy et Pierre Salinger, Thor
• 2013 Elles: Mulheres artistas na coleção do Centro Pompidou,{{Cite web|url = http://contramao.una.br/category/ccbb/page/3/|title = Uma exposição só delas|website = contramão|last = Costa|first = Juliana|language = pt|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143816/http://contramao.una.br/category/ccbb/page/3/|archive-date = 2015-04-02|url-status = dead}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.facebook.com/ccbb.rj/photos/a.483196088413732.1073741833.160517634014914/483196195080388/|title = Montagem Exposição Elles - Pompidou|date = 23 May 2013|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = CCBB Rio de Janeiro's Page|language = pt}} CCBB, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2014 "G I R L",{{Cite web|url = https://www.perrotin.com/exhibition-pharrell_williams-2704.html|title = "G I R L" curated by Pharrell Williams|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = Galerie Perrotin}} Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
• 2014 Drawing Now,{{Cite web|url = http://www.drawingnowparis.com/portfolio-item/galerie-valerie-bach-bruxelles-belgique/|title = Galerie Valérie Bach, Bruxelles, Belgique|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = Drawing Now Paris|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150329163136/http://www.drawingnowparis.com/portfolio-item/galerie-valerie-bach-bruxelles-belgique|archive-date = 2015-03-29|url-status = dead}} Carreaux du temple, Paris
• 2014 A bitter sweet legacy,{{Cite web|url = http://www.galeriederoussan.com/cspdocs/exhibition/files/GdR-%20DP%20Aubry&Bourg%20-%20A%20bitter%20sweet%20legacy.pdf|title = A Bitter Sweet Legacy|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = Galerie de Roussan}} Galierie de Roussan, Paris
• 2014 Cet obscur objet du désir- Autour de l'Origine du monde,{{Cite web|url = http://www.macommune.info/evenement/cet-obscur-objet-de-desirs-lorigine-du-monde-102801|archive-url = https://archive.today/20150309071304/http://www.macommune.info/evenement/cet-obscur-objet-de-desirs-lorigine-du-monde-102801|url-status = dead|archive-date = 9 March 2015|title = Cet obscur objet de désirs. L'Origine du monde|date = 25 August 2014|access-date = 11 March 2015|website = maCommune|language = fr}} Musée Gustave Courbet, Ornans, France

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Category:1962 births

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