Annette Messager

Annette Messager (born 30 November 1943 in Berck, France) is a French visual artist. In 2005 she won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale for her artwork at the French Pavilion. In 2016 she won the prestigious Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award. She currently lives and works in Malakoff, France.

Annette Messager was born on 30 November 1943 in Berck, France. Between 1962 and 1966, Messager attended the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France.

Messager is known mainly for her installation work which often incorporates photographs, prints and drawings, and various materials. Messager has exhibited and published her work extensively.

In 2005, her work was featured in the French Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, where she won the Golden Lion for her Pinocchio-inspired installation that transformed the French pavilion into a casino. One of her most famous pieces is her exhibition The Messengers, which showcases an installation of rooms that include a series of photographs and toy-like, hand knit animals in costumes. For example, some of the animals' heads were replaced by heads of other stuffed animals to reflect the ways in which humans disguise themselves or transform their identities with costume.

She is the partner of artist Christian Boltanski.

Select solo exhibitions

• Galerie mfc-michèle didier, Paris, November 2012 - January 2013. "Ma collection de proverbes"
• Galerie mfc-michèle didier, Paris, 2011. "Mes dessins secrets, Mon guide du tricot, Ma collection de champignons bons et de champignons mortels"
• Musee d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1974.
• Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels, 1977.
• Galerie Gillespie-Laage, Paris, 1979, 1980.
• St. Louis Art Museum, 1980.
• St. Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1981.
• Musee de Beaux-Arts, Calais, 1983.
• Musee d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 1984.
• Gallerie d'Art contemporaine, Nice, 1986.
• Musee de Grenoble, 1989.
• Musee Departmentale, Chateau de Rochechouart, 1990.
• Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, 1992.
• Arnolfini, Bristol, 1992.
• FRAC Picardie, 1993.
• Penetration, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1995.
• Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1995.
• The Messengers, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2007.
• Mori Art Museum, Tokyo 2008.
• The Messenger, Hayward Gallery, London 2009.
• Museo de Arte Contemporaneo (MARCO), Monterrey 2010.
• Zachęta National Gallery, Warsaw 2010.
• Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City 2011.

Select group exhibitions

• Couples. MoMA PS1, New York, 1978.
• Photography as Art. Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 1979.
• Today's Art and Erotism. Kunstverein, Bonn, 1982.
• Images in Transition. National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. 1990.
• Parallel Visions. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1992.
• A visage decouvert. Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris, 1992.
• Arrested Childhood. Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, 1994.
• New Works for a New Space. ArtPace, San Antonio, Texas, 1995.
• elles@centrepompidou. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris 2010.
• Dead Animals and the Curious Occurrence of Taxidermy in Contemporary Art. Brown University Bell Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island 2016.

Select books

• Mes dessins secrets, Bruxelles, mfc-michèle didier, 2011. Edition of 24 numbered and signed copies and 6 artist’s proofs. Voir mfc-michèle didier
• Ma collection de champignons bons et de champignons mortels, Bruxelles, mfc-michèle didier, 2011. Edition of 24 numbered and signed copies and 6 artist’s proofs.
• Mon guide du tricot, Bruxelles, mfc-michèle didier, 2011. Edition of 24 numbered and signed copies and 6 artist’s proofs.

In 2006, a book under the title Word for Word: Texts, Writings and Interviews (1971–2005) was published. It explores the writing in Annette Messager's artworks, and gathers numerous related texts published in magazines or catalogues, as well as unpublished notes on Messager's work and her personal reflections on art and life. All her interviews from 1974 to the present are also included.

Select editions

• Ma collection de proverbes, Bruxelles, mfc-michèle didier, 2012. Edition of 24 numbered and signed copies and 6 artist’s proofs. Voir mfc-michèle didier

• Uta Grosenick, Women Artists in the 20th and 21st Century, Taschen, 2001, p354. ISBN 3-8228-5854-4
• Wright, Karen. "In the studio: Annette Messager", The Independent, Retrieved 24 December 2014.
• ^ Riding, Alan. "Annette Messager: A bold messenger for feminist art", The New York Times, Retrieved 24 December 2014.
• Magdalene Perez (March 3, 2006). "Caught On Video: Annette Messager Star of New Artist Bio-Pic?". Louise Blouin Media. Retrieved 2008-05-19. 
• "Penetration", Museum of Modern Art, Retrieved 24 December 2014.
• "Annette Messager: The Messenger", Centre Pompidiou, Retrieved 24 December 2014.
• "Annette Messager: The Messengers", Southbank Centre, Retrieved 24 December 2014.