Marguerite Humeau

Marguerite Humeau (*1986) is a multidisciplinary French artist whose practice spans spatial installation, sculpture, and sound, and investigates the limits of human perception, language, and knowledge. Her work is grounded in long-term research conducted in collaboration with specialists in biology, paleontology, anthropology, and engineering; in recent years, she has also expanded her field of inquiry to include oral traditions and local mythologies as alternative forms of knowledge. 

Humeau creates complex environments that function as self-contained ecosystems. Through speculative scenarios inspired by history and scientific hypotheses, she reconsiders the origins of life, the evolution of consciousness, and possible futures of the human species. Her work situates humanity within a broader temporal framework that encompasses the Anthropocene as well as the prospect of extinction, addressing the fragility of human existence in the context of planetary transformation. 

Her biomorphic sculptures and sound installations evoke spaces that lie somewhere between a laboratory, an archaeological site, and a ritual sanctuary. The oscillation between speculative science and ancient myth, between technological artifact and fossil, is central to the visual language of her work. The resulting environments appear at once monumental and unsettling, opening up an experience that extends beyond a purely human perspective. 

Humeau lives and works in London. Her large-scale projects have been presented at institutions including the Kunstverein Hamburg, Tate Britain, Palais de Tokyo, Serpentine Galleries, and White Cube. Her work has also been shown at the Kunsthalle Basel, the Centre Pompidou, and at the 59th Venice Biennale (2022), and is included in major international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.