Marion Balac (b.1984) is graduate of ENSBA Lyon and Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. Her work uses different media like video, photography, drawing, screenshots and websites. Collecting data, images and objects, she elaborates new situations and fictions: moving forward through scrolls and clicks as an online tourist, she travels within these dynamic playgrounds, bringing out their incongruities, diverting their uses to poetic ends or for social experiments. Landscapes and objects are sorted, modified and shaped, as to become the starting points and sites of her work, within or outside the screen.
Her work has been included in group exhibitions and screenings at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Paris Pantin) for Jeune Création, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani (Barcelona), LOOP Barcelona, Cité Internationale des Arts (Paris), Khorshid Film Festival (Téhéran), Bandits-Mages (Bourges), Espace des Blancs-Manteaux (Paris), l’Abbaye (Annecy-le-Vieux), Galerie Neuf (Nancy), Hectoliter Gallery (Brussels), Musée Saint-Raymond (Toulouse). She has had the possibility to develop her work in residencies like the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, Salón Bellefour in Buenos Aires or Hangar in Barcelona.
"Marion Balac uses unusual data, situations or objects as a base to produce fictions that reveal the landscapes and horizons of a globalised world. Her artworks, tender and dark at the same time, show how stories generated by the connected and ultra-contemporary culture fall within physical or online sites."
Caroline Delieutraz and Stephanie Vidal for Making Contact exhibition.
(fr) "Marion Balac transforme des étonnements provoqués par des données, des situations ou des objets en dispositifs fictionnels qui révèlent les paysages et horizons d'un monde globalisé. Ses pièces, à la fois tendres et grinçantes, montrent comment des récits issus de la culture ultra-contemporaine et connectée s'inscrivent dans des lieux physiques ou en ligne. "
Caroline Delieutraz et Stephanie Vidal pour le texte de l'exposition Making Contact.
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SOLO SHOWS
2017 Alejandro, Galerie WTA, Barcelona, ES.
2015 Plaine saison, Galerie Le Toutou Chic, Metz, FR.
2013 Décantation d'un projet éditorial, JHB Fondation Royale, Bruxelles, BE.
2010 Animal Catastrophe, Kiosque Images, Paris, FR.
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS & EVENTS
Upcoming:
No es lo que aparece - Finalistas del premi Miquel Casablancas 2018, group show, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (ES), May 25th - July 15th 2018. Curated by Virginia Torrente, Xavier Acarín Wieland and Pedro Torres.
Gimmick 2, group show, San Andreu Contemporani, Barcelona (ES), June 2018. Curated by Antoni Hervás.
Les prix Vitrine-65 de Jeune Création 2017, group show, Vitrine-65, Paris (FR), 16-26 May 2018.
Far away treasure, Espai Nyam nyam, Barcelona (ES), June 17th, 2018. Curated by Quim Packard.
Mission To Touch The Sun, group show, Enclave, London (UK), August 2018.
Festival Ateliers Partagés, Restitution des projets d'action culturelle de la Gaité Lyrique, Paris (FR). May 16 - 27th.
2018
Photo18, festival, Halle 622, Zurich-Oerlikon, CH.
DIS[ ] : ARBITRATION Pavilion, online exhibition, The Wrong - New Digital Art Biennale, IN.
2017
Jeune Création 67, group show, Galerie Thaddeus Ropac, Pantin, FR.
White Screen 3, Jeune Création online exhibition curated by Carine Klonowski, Kévin Cadinot & Julien Toulze, IN.
Making contact, online exhibition curated by Caroline Delieutraz and Stéphanie Vidal, IN.
Festival Saison Video, Saison Video #41, Tourismes, curated by Mo Gourmelon, IN.
Un mundo ideal, group show curated by Julia Morandeira, Jesus Alcaide and Antoni Hervas, Fabra i Coats - Centre d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, ES.
UnderLOOP, group show curated by Amanda Caminals, Cine Avenida de la Luz, LOOP, Barcelona, ES.
Crowd workers, Unsterblichkeit und Post-Fotografie, group show, 21es Journées photographiques de Bienne, Galerie Le Grenier, Bienne, CH.
Под земја полесно се дише 5, group show, Kula, Skopje, MA.
Quand Denis rencontre Philippe, group show, Chaideny, Clamart, FR.
Le Merveilleux, group show, Abbaye Royale du Montcel, Pontpoint, FR.
Paper Tigers Collection & Co, group show curated by Mathieu Tremblin, Syndicat Potentiel, Strasbourg, FR.
Paratext 14, talk and screening, Hangar, Barcelona, ES.
2016
Variation, curated by Dominique Moulon, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, FR.
Fictions Réelles, group show, Le 100 ecs, Paris, FR.
Festival Imagine, talk and performance, invitation by Frédéric Martel for Soft Power, Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR).
Open, group show curated by Manon Klein and BLBC, Galerie T2, Paris, FR.
10x10, group show, Ourcq Blanc, Paris, FR.
5th Khorshid Film Festival, screening, Téhéran, IR.
Écran Libre, screening, Moon, Foff Angoulême, FR.
2015
Variation, curated by Dominique Moulon, Espace des Blancs-Manteaux, Paris, FR.
Carnets d'été, group show, Galerie Louise, Le Pré Saint Gervais, FR.
La fin des cartes ?, group show curated by Isabelle Arvers, Shakirail, Paris, FR.
Ravages, group show curated by Diamètre, Point Éphémère, Paris, FR.
Promenons-nous..., group show curated by Caroline Delieutraz and Géraldine Miquelot, Abbaye d'Annecy-le-Vieux, FR.
Racines, group show, Galerie Mathilde C, Paris, FR.
2014
Entre les arbres, group show, Galerie Entre, Paris, FR.
Éditons, group show, Collectif Blanc - Nomad, Montréal, CAN.
6 weekends d'art contemporain, group show, Galerie Neuf, Nancy, FR.
Il y a loin et cependant, group show, Avant-Travaux, Paris, FR.
2013
Tootem, group show, Société Sauvage/Galerie Lazer Quest, Paris, FR.
Revival, group show, Hectoliter gallery, Bruxelles, BE.
Revival Pavilion, group show, Grad Sofiya, Sofia, BU.
Beware, group show, Workshop, Paris, FR.
Jardins Synthétiques Hors les Murs, group show, La Bellone, Bruxelles, BE.
2012
Orage Titan Fata Morgosa, group show, H2, Paris, FR.
Jardins synthétiques, group show, Musée Saint-Raymond,Toulouse, FR.
Les invités des Atelier Boisson, group show curated by John Deneuve, Marseille, FR.
Which Witch, group show, Le Cagibi, Lille, FR.
Treize Étranges, group show curated by Céline Poulin, Hors les Murs du Parc Saint Léger, Nevers, FR.
Collection classique, group show, Le Pied de Biche, Paris, FR.
2011-2009
Láncszemek, group show, L'Hybride, Lille, FR.
Reputation, group show, Mother Drucker, Berlin, DE.
Bandits-Mages, film festival, Bourges, FR.
Jusqu'ici tout va bien, group show, Forum de l’Image - Espace Croix-Baragnon, Toulouse, FR.
PRIZES, RESIDENCIES AND GRANTS
2018
Ex Asilo Filangieri, residency, Napoli, IT.
Premi Miquel Casablancas, San Andreu Contemporani, prize, shortlisted, Barcelona, ES.
Hangar, Centro de Producción e Investigación de Artes Visuales, residency, Barcelona, ES.
2017
Hangar, Hangar / Institut Français de Barcelona / Casa de Velázquez grant and residency, Barcelona, ES.
Can Serrat, full grant and residency, El Bruc, ES.
Jeune Création / nomadgalerie, prize, winner, Paris, FR.
Premi Miquel Casablancas, San Andreu Contemporani, prize, shortlisted, Barcelona, ES.
WT Artspace, residency, Barcelona, ES.
2016
Salon Bellefour, residency, Buenos Aires, AR.
2015
Casa de Velázquez, grant and residency, Madrid, ES.
Villa Belleville, residency, Paris, FR.
2013
Présence Barrée, residency, Grenoble, FR.
GOM / Musée d'Art, residency, Toulon, FR.
EDUCATION
2015 Master 2 (MFA) with honors, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, FR.
2008 DNAP (BFA), ENSBA Lyon, FR.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018 L'art au-delà du digital, Dominique Moulon, Nouvelles Éditions Scala.
2015 Dadabot. Essay about the hybridization of cultural forms (music, visual arts, literature) produced by digital technologies, Nicolas Nova et Joël Vacheron, Éditions Idpure.
2015 Early Edition, Bill Kartalopoulos, Nat. Brut.
2013 It's Nice That Annual 2013, Company of Parrots.
2013 Revival, Blood Becomes Water #8.
2011 Headache, Éditions du Livre.
2010 Massive, Chili Com Carne / Hülülülü.
PRESS
2017 El cine Avenida de la Luz reabre para arte, Teresa Sesé, La Vanguardia, 05.03.2017.
2016 Identity, Florian Alexander Schmidt, Agenda Design 3, AGD.
2016 The Many faces of Camouflage, Jan Babnik, Membrana.
2015 Data Iconoclast, Paul Wombell, British Journal of Photography, December issue.
2015 Cabinet of curiosities, IDPURE 38.
2015 Girls Draw it Better, Monique Todd, Twin Magazine 12.
2014 Utopies en miniatures, Benjamin Bottemer, Zut! #09.
2010 Animal Catastrophe, Junko Shibuya, Illustration Japan.
2010 Animal Catastrophe, Maxime Gueugneau, Kiblind, April issue.
RADIO
2017 Internet, Green Text Stories, Dublab.es (02.14.2017)
2016 Soft Power, France Culture (06.05.2016)
TELEVISION
2017 Im künstlichen Soziotop – Disneylands prägender Einfluss, Igor Basic, Kulturplatz, SRF 1, 05.03.2017
ONLINE PRESS
2017
Für Google sind Götter auch nur Menschen - Igor Basic - SRF
Les inquiétantes miscellanées des Journées de Bienne - Caroline Stevan - Le temps
Underloop: videoarte en el subsuelo de Barcelona - Jorge Mauro de Pedro - Culturaca
2016
Villa Belleville - Géraldine Miquelot - Portraits
DADABOT. The role of algorithms in cultural production - Regine Debatty - We-make-money-not-art
Marion Balac - Géraldine Miquelot - Portraits
Un état de la création numérique - Frédéric Martel - France Culture
The Many Faces of Camouflage - Jan Babnik - Membrana
2015
Panorama of drawing in 2015 by Twin Magazine 12
2014
The 'Anonymous Gods' Of GSV - Beckett Mufson - The Creators Project
The Anonymous Gods Of GSV - John Brownlee - Fast Company / Co.Design
Has facial recognition paranoia gotten stupid? - Greg Stevens - The Daily Dot
Marion Balac - Renaud Monfourny - Les Inrocks
The faces of monuments and statues blurred-out by Google Street View - Maisie Skidmore - It's Nice That
Le visage apparaît dans une troublante nudité - Pierre Ménard - Liminaire
Aujourd’hui est le jour où tu rejoins tes semblables - Mikaël Demets - L'accoudoir
The Faceless Gods Of Google Street View - Robbie Gonzalez - io9
La poésie mystérieuse du dessin contemporain - Julien Verhaeghe - Contemporanéité
Anonymous gods - Spacelab
Anonymous Gods, i volti delle statue offuscate su Google StreetView - Wired
Όλοι είμαστε ίσοι μπροστά στη google - George Tsaknis - Dimar
2013
Stunningly detailed pencil drawings from the prolific Marion Balac - James Cartwright - It's Nice That
Marion Balac on jungle-explorations, suggestive drawings and island dreams - Amber Hsu - Tiny Pencil
Il y a loin et cependant - Smaranda Olcese - Toute la culture
Marion Balac’s Apparitional Void Drawings - Ryan de la Hoz - Beautiful Decay
Marion Balac - Victoria Roussel - Beware
WORKSHOPS
2018 Facebook sitcom, workshop, Gwinzegal art center, Guingamp, FR.
2018 Desktop movies, workshop w/ Carine Klonowski, La Gaité Lyrique, Paris, FR. Movie screened in "Ateliers Partagés", exhibition in La Gaité Lyrique, Paris (FR).
2017 Ona, workshop w/ Serafin Alvarez, San Andreu Contemporani, Barcelona, ES.
2017 En vacances sur terre, video workshops in Les Côtes pediatric day hospital. Movie screened in "Lumière..." exhibition in L'Onde art center, Vélizy-Villacoublay, FR.
2015 The island, workshops in Musée régional d'art contemporain Occitanie/Pyrénées-Méditerranée (MRAC), Sérignan, FR.
2014 Print and wear, workshop in Lycée professionnel Claude Nicolas Ledoux, Pavillon-sous-bois, FR.
2013 Avant la chute de Phaéton, workshops in Musée National de la Renaissance, castle of Écouen, FR.
2012 Jungles, workshops for Squares event, Art Exprim, Paris, FR.