· 71 ·
IMPORTABLE/M.A.Y.A
Solo Exhibition
Palais Seyssel d’Aix, Kaulbachstraße 13, München, Germany
Locquet Marie-caroline, Installation view, 2021. Photo Richard Porteau
Opening: 28.02.2024, 17:00
Event duration: 26.02-03.03.2024, Mon-Wed 14:00-18:00, Thu 10:00-15:00, Fri-Sun 10:00-18:0
Importable/M.A.Y.A (‘Unwearable/M.A.Y.A’) is an exhibition conceived by Marie-caroline Locquet, delving into the heart of her artistic work where the status of the object, halfway between jewelry and sculpture, is examined in a captivating dialogue between the pieces and the visitor. The concept of ‘M.A.Y.A’ (Most Advanced, Yet Acceptable) woven throughout this exhibition, was developed by Raymond Loewy in his essay ‘Never Leave Well Enough Alone’. It denotes a point of tension where the desire for novelty clashes with the fear of otherness : ‘It’s a kind of battle between the attraction of the new and the fear of the unfamiliar. It’s a threshold of shock.’
It is within this interstice that Marie-caroline Locquet’s pieces take a stand. Each one redefines the status of jewellery, considering it less as a showcase object (of wealth, power, etc.) and more as a confrontation. The materials, pushed to their extreme limits, bare themselves and reveal their true nature through forms that evoke both desire and death. Whether defensive weapons or restraint devices, each piece offers a unique wearing experience that explores our shared fragility. They pose a challenge to all who observe them, constantly maintaining the tension between social discomfort and the temptation of embrace.
Marie-Caroline Locquet is a French visual artist. She grew up in the north of France where she felt the weight of self-demonstration and the camouflage of the social affiliations through adornment at an early age. The jewellery that surrounded her consisted of wedding rings and activist badges. Nothing flashy, nothing ostentatious or luxurious, but rather an intimate and silent ornamentation, or sometimes bold, always a sign of commitment. Thus, it is a conceptual interest that led her to jewellery, an object initially quite distant from her, considering it more as a subject for study than from an aesthetic affinity.
Graduating from ENSAD Limoges with highest honors in 2021, she was featured the same year at Coherent Artist-run space (BE) and at Ar.c.o centro de Arte (PT). She set up her studio in Limoges and began teaching.
Importable/M.A.Y.A is her first international solo-show.