Marie & Alexandre - MOU

Mou is one of those adjectives which, depending on the context in which they are used, are ambivalent. If we stick to the world of the object, a sob form changes under light pressure; it gives way under the weight of a body. There is something comforting about snuggling in it.

The Mou exhibition reveals pieces by Marie & Alexandre which are linked to an invitation to work with an upholsterer. This encounter gave birth to an armchair and a sofa, then joined by a coffee table and lighting pieces, made respectively with two cabinetmakers and a master glassmaker. Tirelessly, from one creation to another, the duo confronts itself with a new material which requires specific know-how. Aber mobiles, lamps, mirrors and vases made from hard materials like ceramic or glass, they explored textiles and wood. However, the discerning eye finds in all these creations details that refer to the same formal language.

The duo thought of the seats as a body to be dressed. Their metal frame, described as a skeleton, was covered with a « millefeuille » of foam. The foaming was then upholstered in a khaki felted wool skin which highlights the high back and deep seat. The resulting stature is both powerful and slender. The armrests as well as the feet are adorned with pieces of wood which provide comfort and solidity. Finally, covers with cuts in them both dress up and deconstruct the seats, revealing a shoulder, an arm or a back. Although the colors of the selected fabrics refer to camouflage, the duo does not seek to fade away but rather to be modestly part of an aesthetic and ergonomic history. Marie & Alexandre borrow the padding from the Second Empire, the cut-out shape from Harry Bertoia and the flexibility from Gaetano Pesce. We can also see tributes to Joseph Beuys, Edouardo Chillida and Robert Morris. The references are mul+ple but the result is in their image: free and playful.

The oak coffee table and lamps also have organic shapes. The beveled edges of the top give the illusion of entering the material, in the same way as the feet which jostle the flat surface. The blown glass lampshades, slightly sagging, are covered with small red protuberances which give them a poisonous appearance and tint, with a veil of heat, the light.

The duo Marie & Alexandre was born from a desire to build a house en+rely out of earth, including its furniture. Their materials have diversified but the objective emerges from one exhibition to another.

Joris Thomas, September 2023

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Mou fait partie de ces adjectifs qui, selon le contexte dans lesquels ils sont employés, sont ambivalents. Si on s’en tient au monde de l’objet, une forme molle se modifie sous une légère pression ; elle cède sous le poids d’un corps. Il y a quelque chose de réconfortant dans l’action de se blotir dedans.

L’exposition Mou révèle des pièces de Marie & Alexandre qui sont liées à une invitation à travailler avec un tapissier. Cette rencontre a donné naissance à un fauteuil, décliné en un canapé puis se sont ajoutés une table basse et des luminaire, réalisés respectivement avec deux ébénistes et un maître verrier. Inlassablement, d’une création à l’autre, le duo se confronte à une nouvelle matière qui nécessite un savoir-faire spécifique. Après les mobiles, les lampes, les miroirs et les vases fabriqués dans des matériaux durs comme la céramique ou le verre, il explore le textile et le bois. Toutefois, l’œil averti retrouve dans toutes ces créations des détails qui renvoient à un même langage formel.

Le duo a pensé les assises comme un corps à vêtir. Leur ossature métallique, qualifiée de squelette, a été recouverte d’un millefeuille de mousse. La garniture a ensuite été tapissée d’une peau en laine feutrée kaki qui souligne le dossier élevé et le siège profond. La stature qui en résulte est la fois puissante et effilée. Les accoudoirs ainsi que les pieds sont parés, quant à eux, de morceaux de bois qui apportent du confort et de la solidité. Pour finir, des couvertures dans lesquelles sont aménagées des entailles viennent autant habiller que déstructurer les sièges, révélant une épaule, un bras ou un dos. Bien que les couleurs des tissus sélectionnés renvoient au camouflage, le duo ne cherche pas à s’effacer mais plutôt à s’inscrire avec modestie dans une histoire esthétique et ergonomique. Marie & Alexandre empruntent le capiton au Second Empire, la forme découpée à Harry Bertoia et la souplesse à Gaetano Pesce. On peut également y voir des hommages à Joseph Beuys, Edouardo Chillida ou encore Robert Morris. Les références sont multiples mais le résultat est à leur image : libre et ludique.

La table basse en chêne et les lampes ont aussi des formes organiques. Les bords biseautés du plateau donnent l’illusion de rentrer dans la matière, aux mêmes titres que les pieds qui accidentent la surface plane. Les abat-jours en verre soufflé, légèrement affaissé, sont parcourus de petites protubérances rouges qui leur donnent un aspect vénéneux et teinte, d’un voile de chaleur, la lumière.

Le duo Marie & Alexandre est né d’une volonté de construite une maison entièrement en terre, y compris son mobilier. Leurs matériaux se sont diversifiés mais l’objectif se dessine d’une exposition à l’autre.

Joris Thomas, septembre 2023 

About Marie & Alexandre

Marie Cornil and Alexandre Willaume met in 2018 during their participation at Design parade 13 at the Villa Noailles in Hyères. Their backgrounds are indicative of complementarities, Marie studied visual arts at HEAD in Geneva before joining Ecal in Lausanne, while Alexandre completed his training in industrial design at ENSCI - Les Ateliers,  also benefiting from a university exchange in San Francisco at the California College of Art.

In 2018, Alexandre had already been working at the Bouroullec studio for nine years, when Marie joined the studio for two years.

Each developing their personal practices, that of painting and sculpture for Alexandre with WANC and textile and color work for Marie, they present together during the summer 2021, the Mobile series at the Villa Noailles which marks the beginning of their work around the red clay of Salerne. The particularity and the strength of the duo are based on the dialogue that Marie and Alexandre establish between themselves and craftsmen-artists. This relationship of curiosity between the two designers is the bearer of fertile collaborations. They apprehend each situation by discovering the materials, their techniques and the know-how of the craftsmen to design objects by an approach that is not hylomorphic. They implement the art du terrain, in which Making is central. Their itinerancy leads them to imagine objects as landscapes or living collections. Their current collaboration with Editors encourages them to think of objects with a wider distribution that complement the collectible approach of the very small series imagined for the gallery.

In March 2022, the Martell Foundation in Cognac inaugurates the Végétasia exhibition, result of a collaboration between the duo, the botanist Marc Jeanson and the Ateliers of the Foundation.

They begin a cycle of exhibitions at the Galerie Signé in September 2022 with a presentation of lights entitled Horizon, followed in January 2023 by Iris, an open research on the mirror object and its reflections.

In March of the same year, the Galerie Signé has presented a new version of the Végétasia exhibition.

Exhibition & Others :

Végétasia Galerie Signé, Paris, May 2023

Iris Galerie Signé, Paris, January 2023 

Horizon Galerie Signé, Paris, September 2022 

Internship Ex Ecal Becque, la tour de Paix, Switzerland 2022

Exposition Végétasia, l’intime des plantes, in collaboration with Marc Jeanson, Martell Foundation, Cognac 2022 

Galerie Signé, Paris 2022 

Collectible fair, Brussels 2022 

La Bocca della Verita, Curated by Margherita Ratti, Brussels 2022 

Mati Galerie, Geneva 2021 

Guru craft & design fair, Paris 2021 

Villa Noailles, « Manufacto » Hermès Fondation , Hyères France 2021

Villa Noailles, Design Parade 15, Hyères, France 2018, Finalists of the design festival