Biography
France , 1963
Clark and Pougnaud are a French artistic duo, working as photographer and painter respectively. Clark grew up in an environment surrounded by photography. He was also his father’s assistant before opening his own studio in the 1980s. Pougnaud, coming from a family of artists, has been in the art world since early childhood.
They formed their duo in the 1990s: Pougnaud imagines miniature stage sets, creates them, and paints the decor while Clark photographs them. Characters are photographed separately and then inserted in the decor.
Their work demonstrates a singular interdisciplinarity comprised of painting, studio models, and photographs. Their work is resolutely contemporary in the technique used, the choice of characters, the solid blocks of color, and the strong sense of staging. Their approach also elaborately weaves pictorial references of the twentieth century, such as Edward Hopper, René Magritte, and surrealist motifs.
In 2000, Clark and Pougnaud were awarded the Arcimboldo prize for digital art, followed by an exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and then in 2006, the HSBC award for Photography.
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 dans le cadre du 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 , USA
2007 "Un tableau peut en cacher un autre", National Museum of History and Art - Luxembourg
2007 "Le petit chaperon rouge" Fondation Albert Marinus - Woluwe Saint Lambert -Belgium
2007 Les Rencontres d'Arles, Commanderie Sainte Luce, Fondation HSBC
2005 "Picturing Identity" Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
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
2004 La Conciergerie, dans le cadre du Mois de la Photo à Paris
2004 "Intimité" Galerie Esther Woerdehoff, Paris
2003 "Les Bourgeoises d'Angoulême et les Contes de Fées" Galerie Bruno Delarue, Paris
2002 "Voyages d’amour" Festival Terre d'Images - Biarritz
2001 Biennale de Nancy,
2000 "Hommage à Edward Hopper" Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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