Clark & Pougnaud
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Selected Works
A Poils, 2022-2023
Clark & Pougnaud.
"A variation on the theme of skin that takes up again the use of models."
Eden, 2019
"To stage an imaginary garden in front of a painted canvas.To paint and photograph from morning till night, for as long as the light enters the studio. To roll up the canvas after it has been photographed and hang another one [...] To capture some insects, take from nature small beautiful pieces of life, painting and photographing every day until the frost of October in the large open space of an ephemeral photographic studio”… Clark and Pougnaud, 2019
Fetish, 2020
Clark & Pougnaud.
"These photographs reveal a man through the prism of the multitude of objects collected in his home. The very discreet presence of a “revealed” woman lurks in each of the images."
Couleur chair, 2016
Clark & Pougnaud.
“In 1900 actresses and dancers only feigned the unveiling of flesh, masking their real nudity under a “redemptive swimsuit”. For the writer Colette, in her conception of the music hall, the actress's body, while sensual, becomes asexual: it is above all a body sculpted by sporting practice”. The “strange” rendering of tights, a matt, elastic second skin that allows ample movement, is combined with colorful backdrops and white plaster elements, designed as fulcrums for living statues."
The Secret, 2015
Clark & Pougnaud.
"The works comprising The Secret are thought of like theater stages on which the curtain has just withdrawn. The unreal and mysterious places have more to do with evocation than representation. Through this new series, the artists invite the public to imagine and project themselves into the invisible: the back of each photograph is hiding a second, intimate one, carrying a secret. A "secret" kept between the artists and models which will only appear and be revealed to the eyes of the collector."
Mood Indigo, 2014
Clark & Pougnaud.
"The title 'Mood Indigo' has been taken from a song by Duke Ellington and it evokes the sweetness of an imaginary Orient".
Lost in Meditation, 2009
Clark & Pougnaud.
"This series offers a very personal re-interpretation of paintings by the Danish painter Wilhelm Hammershoi at the turn of the century. Considered a master of Danish painting, he builds, in a limited palette, a universe of interiority and silence. A woman alone, with her back to you, is often at the centre of his interior paintings. This is a work of art that perfectly expresses our idea of the culture of North European countries at that time. Solitude, rigour, sadness, meditation, cold beauty and austerity, the universe we find in the plays of Ibsen or the music of Sibelius."
Tribute to Edward Hopper, 2000-2005
Clark & Pougnaud.
"Our work together started with that series of photographs. We loved Hopper’s paintings and we based our works on them. We were not trying to to identically reproduce Hopper’s paintings, we only wanted to suggest as accurately as possible the atmosphere and apparent order exuding from the painter’s work."
Une histoire d'amour..., 2012
Clark & Pougnaud.
"These two love stories are those of Sophie-Charlotte and Matthieu, and Anne and Jefferson.The sets were inspired by paintings by Félix Vallotton and Edgar Degas."
Immobilis, 2010
Clark & Pougnaud.
"Time suspended, time for a pic, time has gone by. Four women in the four seasons of life."
Adolescence, 2006
C'est la vie, 2004
Clark & Pougnaud.
"Commissioned by the Musée de l'Image in Epinal, based on the theme of the degree of ages. All models are from the Romanès circus."
Les Contes de fées, 2003-2005
Intimité, 2004
Clark & Pougnaud.
"For those photographs, we asked friends to expose. Each one was placed in a chosen setting : Versailles, Exelmans, Hollywood, Storyville, Collioure. "Collioure" is a sunny terrace for the Fauve Village, with a rounded Venus we could be the Dina Vierny painted by Matisse."
L'Amour et le voyage, 2002
Clark & Pougnaud.
"The notion of travel doesn't necessarily involve geographical displacement. The idea of travel for us is symbolized by the couple when it's made up of two different worlds. The meeting of a being that raises amorous feelings is in itself a journey into the heart of the other, when this one is, in addition to a distinct culture, the exploration becomes daily. Each photo illustrates a true “tandem” in life.”
Les bourgeoises d'Angoulême, 2001
Enfance, 2000
La balade de Dorothy, 2000
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Biography
Biography
France , 1963
"All our work is part of a paradox, combining the ultra-realism of the characters and the fiction created by the decors. We want to take people into fantastical, imaginary little worlds, but at the same time, we want the characters to be as natural as possible. They're totally themselves, in a set that's a fake. The two levels blur and recreate a new, different reality...".
(Artist's statement, quoted in “Clark et Pougnaud, Le Secret”, L'œil de la photographie, October 29, 2015).
Clark et Pougnaud are a French artist couple, painter and photographer respectively. Virginie Pougnaud, born in 1962, comes from a family of artists and has been involved in the art world from an early age. Christophe Clark was born in 1963 and grew up in the world of photography. He worked as his father's assistant before opening his own studio in the 1980s. It was in 1998 that they formed their duo: Pougnaud thinks up the stagings, builds and paints the sets, Clark photographs them. Certain elements, objects or characters are photographed separately and then inserted into the sets. Their work reflects a singular transversality: painting, models and photography. Their work is resolutely contemporary, in terms of the technique used, the choice of characters, the flat tints of color and the acute sense of staging. Their approach is also deeply influenced by 20th-century pictorial references, such as Edward Hopper, René Magritte and Surrealism.
Clark et Pougnaud work as craftsmen of the image, making patience the watchword of their creation. True to their vision, neither backward-looking nor technophile, but creating a resolutely dream-like universe, Clark et Pougnaud are sought-after photographers and invaluable dream-makers.
Clark et Pougnaud were awarded the Arcimboldo prize for digital creation in 2000, followed by an exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and in 2006, the HSBC Prize for Photography. Since then, their work has been exhibited in many institutions in France (Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Maison photographique de Lille, Centre d'art Contemporain Matmut pour les Arts, Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire) and internationally (Musée Pouchkine, Moscow, Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, Decordova Museum, Lincoln).
Awards Prix Arcimboldo 2000
Prix de la Fondation HSBC 2006
MAIN MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS:
2023 Une certaine idée du bonheur / Centre d'Art contemporain Matmut pour les Arts, Rouen, France
2022 Chaumont Photo sur Loire / Le Parvis, Pau, France
2019 Eden Hangar Art Center Brussels, Belgium
2016/2017 The eye of the collector, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Strasbourg, France
2016 Sede di Porto Cervo Via del Porto Vecchio, Paci Contemporary, Italy
2016 Photo LA, The REEF/LA Mart
2016 Le temps des collections, Musée des beaux-Arts de Rouen, France
2015 Rétrospective à la Maison photographique de Lille, France
2014 Mood Indigo, Solo show at Art Paris Art Fair
2013 Hommage à Edward Hopper - Mona Bismarck American Center for art & culture, Paris, France
2012 "I Have a dream" Paci Contemporary gallery Brescia, Italy
2012 "Homage" Galerie PhotoHub Manometr, Moscow, Russia
2011 La Galerie - La Filature, Mulhouse, France
2011 "La tête dans les nuages" - Théâtre d'Angoulême, France
2011 L'Imagerie de Lannion , France
2011 L'Onde - centre d'Art Velizy
2010 "From infancy to the green years" Musée Pouchkine, Moscou
2010 Galerie Ines Barrenechea, Madrid, Spain
2010 Skotia Gallery, Santa Fe, USA
2010 Galerie Duchamp, Yvetot
2009 Retrospective Musée du Montparnasse-r, Prix Arcimboldo
2009 C'est la vie" Galerie PaciArte, Brescia, Italy
2008 "Étrange Europe" - Résidence Jean Zay, Paris, for Mois de la photo
2008 Trans Photographiques - Lille - dans le cadre du Prix Arcimboldo
2008 "Il était une fois" Parcours Saint Germain - Paris
2008 "Presumed Innocence" Decordova Museum - Lincoln, USA
2007 "Suspicious origins" Claire Oliver Gallery, New-York, USA
2007 28e quinzaine de la photographie à Cholet
2007 Philips de Pury & Co, New-York, Fondation HSBC
2007 "Un tableau peut en cacher un autre", Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art - Luxembourg
2007 "Le petit chaperon rouge" Fondation Albert Marinus - Woluwe Saint Lambert - Belgique
2007 Les Rencontres d'Arles, Commanderie Sainte Luce, Fondation HSBC
2005 "C'est la vie" Musée de l'Image, Epinal
2004 "Transhumance // 6" Le Château d'Eau - Toulouse
2004"Les vilains dans les contes de Fées" Musée de l'Image - Epinal La Conciergerie, for Mois de la Photo in Paris
2000 "Hommage à Edward Hopper" Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023 « Une certaine idée du bonheur », Linéart 2015 "Ceci n’est pas une fleur", Editions Contrejour
2010 "Clark et Pougnaud", published by " Petit Format", galerie Duchamp
2009 "C'est la Vie", PaciArte gallery:
2006 "Clark et Pougnaud", monograph, Éditions Actes Sud
2004 "Intimité", galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris
2003 “Les Bourgeoises d’Angoulême et les Contes” galerie Bruno Delarue, Paris
The artists
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Exhibitions
Exhibitions and Fairs
2025 | Collective show, REVE! | Campredon Art & Images, l'Isle-sur-la Sorgue, France
2023 | A Sense of Bliss | Galerie XII Los Angeles
2023 | Moderne Art Fair 2023 | Paris, avenue des Champs-Elysées. Stand 229
2023 | Photo Basel 2023 | Volkshaus Basel, Rebgasse 12-14, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
2023 | A Sense of Bliss | Galerie XII Paris
2023 | Une certaine idée du bonheur | Centre d'Art Contemporain de la Matmut - Daniel Havis de Rouen
2021 | MIA Fair 2021 | Via Moncucco 35, 20124 Milano
2021 | Vibrating colors | Galerie XII Shanghai
2021 | Editions spéciales - Moulin du Vergé |
2020 | Départ immédiat - Boarding Pass Confirmation | 42 rue de Montmorency - 75003 Paris
2020 | Gathering Blue | Galerie XII Los Angeles
2020 | Online exhibition in 3D | Online exclusive
2019 | Paris / Art Elysées Art & Design | Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Pavillon A, stand 126A
2019 | Eden, A Season in Paradise |
2017 | Art Elysées 2017 | Stand A135
2017 | MIA PhotoFair, Milan | THE MALL – PORTA NUOVA VARESINE, MILANO
2016 | L'Oeil du collectionneur | Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de la Ville de Strasbourg
2016 | Art Paris Art Fair 2016 | Grand Palais, Paris
2015 | Fotofever 2015 | CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE
2015 | Clark & Pougnaud - Rétrospective | Maison de la Photo - Lille
2015 | The Secret | Galerie XII Paris
2015 | PhotoLA 2015 | The Reef, 1933 Broadway, Los Angeles
2014 | Art Elysées 2014 | Pavillons sur l’avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8ème
2014 | PhotoShanghai 2014 | Shanghai Exhibition Centre
2014 | Flowers for Summertime | Galerie Photo12 et Galerie Du 10
2014 | Mood Indigo | Galerie XII Paris
2014 | ART PARIS ART FAIR, from March 26 to 30, 2014 | Grand Palais, Paris
2013 | Fotofever Paris 2013 | Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
2013 | Fotofever Brussels 2013 | Tour & Taxis, Brussels
2012 | Lost in Meditation | Galerie XII Paris
2012 | Hommage à Hopper | Mona Bismarck American Center
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Press
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Bibliography
Bibliography
2015 | Ceci n'est pas une fleur
Editions Contrejour.
2006 | "Clark et Pougnaud"
monograph published for the 'prix HSBC' by Éditions Actes Sud: 95 pages.2004 | "Clark et Pougnaud"
catalogue of the exhibition “Intimité” galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris2003 | "Clark et Pougnaud"
catalogue of the exhibition “Les Bourgeoises d’Angoulême et les Contes” galerie Bruno Delarue, Paris
