Marc Camille Chaimowicz

A gift, with love…

Born in 1947 in Paris. Lives and works in London.

‘A gift, with love…’ brings together a significant set of artworks by Marc Camille Chaimowicz, primarily sourced from the Consortium Museum’s collection. This selection is complemented by pieces from his personal collection and one from the FRAC Bourgogne collection, along with an edition published by Interface.

Born in Paris in 1947, the London-based French artist has been showcased twice at the Consortium Museum—where many of his performances took place—on the occasion of two monographic exhibitions, in 1984 and 1994.

Since the early 1970s, Chaimowicz’s work has displayed eclectic influences, including French modern literature (Gide, Cocteau, Genet, Proust), English pop art (Richard Hamilton), and glam rock.
During the era of minimal art, he merged performance art and installation art, as exemplified with what remains to this day his most famous piece, Celebration? Realife (1972). This work led him to host visitors for tea—embracing the demanding art of conversation—in the gallery where he had decided to live during the exhibition.

Throughout his career, Chaimowicz has consistently aimed to blur the boundaries between applied arts and fine arts. His diverse body of work features coffee sets, wallpaper, seating, armchairs, tables, rugs, and screens. Stuart Morgan noted, ‘Chaimowicz has been concerned with frontiers: public and private, politeness and indiscretion, intimacy and formalism’.

Chaimowicz’s career has long been connected to the French region of Burgundy During his tenure as a guest lecturer at ENSA Dijon, his teachings left a profound impact on a generation of emerging artists whom he often engaged with over coffee. Several of his artworks adorn public spaces throughout the region, (Rue Crébillon in Dijon, the Hôtel-Dieu in Cluny, the Halle du Marché in Arnay-le-Duc, the Musée des nourrices et des enfants de l’assistance publique in Alligny-en-Morvan). These pieces stem from various commissioned programs, notably the New Patrons initiative launched by the Fondation de France.

The Consortium Museum’s collection boasts about fifteen pieces by Marc Camille Chaimowicz. The collection further expanded in 2022 with a generous donation from the artist, comprising installations, sculptures, publications, and drawings. This donation led to the exhibition being titled ‘A gift, with love…’

Coinciding with his recent exhibition at the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain in Saint-Etienne in 2023, his first French-language monograph was published by Presses du réel.

— Éric Troncy