Matisse Mesnil

Born in 1989, Matisse Mesnil is an artist who now lives and works in Paris. He often travels to Italy, his native country. He began his career as a set designer in the film industry, a background that still permeates much of his work today. His Italian origins are evident in his work, which shows popular iconography and unfolds a world inspired by his wanderings through the streets. Buildings, their ornaments, washing hung from balconies… are all motifs that attract the artist’s attention. His treatment of these subjects brings into dialogue not only the notions of nature and culture, but also those of setting and landscape.

Matisse Mesnil conducts experimental artistic research, challenging Alberti’s concept of painting as a “window on the world“. He focuses on the frame, inspired by his experience as a photographer which led him to observe the world through a more restricted frame: that of the lens. The frame is also a form of opening in our everyday experience.

The artist explores metalwork, seeing in it an intense “pictoriality”. For him, the marks on the metal are like scars, witnesses to the artist-object interaction. Using industrial processes such as welding or grinding, Matisse Mesnil revisits landscape and still life. He creates fabric patchworks, thus producing textile works inspired by aerial views.

His recent creations aim to interact with the viewer and the environment, creating genuine mise-en-scènes. The contrast between the industrial technique and the delicate subjects intrigues and challenges viewers.