Théo Mercier
Théo Mercier was born in Paris in 1984
He lives and works in Paris
A sculptor and stage director, Théo Mercier focuses on the relation between the work and its environment. In his installations, he mixes his own sculptures with objects or artifacts he collected over his travels, and seeks to create a real choreography of the eye for the viewer. The diversity of the collections thus gathered is an image of what globalization is ; their arrangement evokes a certain archeology of the future where strangeness, poetry and humor emerge from unusual reconciliations.
He studied in Paris at the National School of Industrial Design (ENSCI) and in Berlin at the Universität der Künste (UDK).
Alongside Bernhard Willhelm, he worked on the Björk stage costume collection before moving to New York in 2008 to assist artist Matthew Barney on his opera project River of Fundament.
Théo Mercier has had personal exhibitions at Villa Médicis, Rome (2023); Prague Quadrennial, Prague (2023); the Conciergerie, Paris (2022); the LUMA Westbau, Zurich (2022); the Collection Lambert, Avignon (2021); Le Portique, Le Havre (2021); the 13th Havana Biennial, Cuba (2019) ; Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris (2019); Museo El Eco, Mexico City (2017); Musée de l’Homme, Paris (2017); Musée d’art Contemporain – MAC, Marseille (2016); Lieu Unique, Nantes (2013); and Tri Postal, Lille (2012), among others.
He also participated in many collective exhibitions in international institutions such as Le Parvis, Tarbes (2022); Musée de la Vieille Charité, Marseille (2022); Pouchkine Museum, Moscow (2021); the West Bund Museum, Shanghai (2021); Musée du Quai Branly, Paris (2021); Jameel Arts Center, Dubai (2019); Fonds Hélène et Edouard Leclerc, Landerneau (2019); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2018); Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City (2018); FRAC Bretagne, Rennes (2018); the Museum of the archaeological site of Baalbek, Lebanon (2016); MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine (2015); and Centre Pompidou, Paris (2013).
Théo Mercier was a resident at Villa Medicis in 2013, and nominated for the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2014. In 2019, he won the Silver Lion at the Venice Dance Biennale.
