Lamarche & Ovize
364 seasons

Drawing is at the heart of the work of the duo Lamarche & Ovize, active since 2006. Their sketchbooks gather references to comics, classical painting, and botanical patterns reminiscent of the decorative arts.

Through a process of assemblage and the manipulation of scale, orderly motifs transform into wild and lush forms. The line then unfolds in volume in the form of installations that blend drawing with sculpture, photography, graphic design, and objects. These hybrid environments represent just a pause in their ongoing practice, conceived as a continuous research flow, a reimagining of the forms and signs they use.

Florentine and Alexandre Lamarche-Ovize aim to embed their artistic practice into daily life. To this end, they continue their research into the relationship between art and craft. This time, they have chosen to immerse themselves in the world of the Michelin-starred Mirazur restaurant in Menton.

Established in 2006 by three-starred chef Mauro Colagreco, this venue offers a novel gastronomic experience where nature and the environment are at the heart of the concept. Mirazur serves seasonal, local cuisine inspired by the vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs cultivated in the chef’s five-hectare biodynamic garden.

This collaboration with the Mediterranean estate enabled the artists to create works resonating with this natural world. The duo seeks to reveal the passage of the seasons within the gardens of Mirazur and their translation onto the plate.

The exhibition reflects their research and experimentation by presenting excerpts from the artists' sketchbooks, as well as those of the chefs. These sketchbooks act as a visual archive from which the artists draw shapes, motifs, and compositions.

These creations resonate with earlier works depicting the cycle of nature. The figures of the sun, the moon, and the flow of water are recurring elements in their creations.

Moreover, many of the duo’s works are rooted in the theories of Elisée Reclus, a geographer who participated in the Paris Commune, the 1871 revolutionary movement, and who championed the defense of nature and its unique characteristics, a precursor to ecological research.

Lamarche & Ovize also seek to convey the experience of the gardens within the exhibition space, blending the exterior and interior, nature and culture. To this end, the artist duo created oyas, semi-buried pottery vessels that capture and distribute water in the soil, for the Mirazur gardens. This ancient irrigation system was also transposed into the exhibition spaces.

To complete the experience and transport visitors to the verdant setting of Menton, Lamarche-Ovize enlisted Olivier Maure, independent perfumer and owner of Accords et Parfums in Spéracèdes, and Alain Joncheray, scent designer, to add an olfactory dimension to the exhibition.

Through their exuberant works, the duo reflects on how to navigate our era with respect and poetry.