Annette Messager

Annette Messager was born on 30 November 1943 in Berck-sur-Mer, France, and trained at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris during the 1960s. She lives and works in Malakoff, on the southern edge of Paris — a base from which she has built one of the most distinctive and widely exhibited bodies of work in contemporary French art. Her practice moves fluidly across installation, textile, drawing, and assemblage, weaving together imagery drawn from childhood, the body, folklore, and institutional power into environments that are at once playful and unsettling.

Messager's international standing was decisively confirmed in 2005, when her monumental installation Casino represented France at the 51st Venice Biennale and won the Golden Lion for best national participation. Constructed from fabric, sculptural forms, and a visual vocabulary derived from the Pinocchio narrative, Casino transformed the French Pavilion into a theatrical spectacle that entangled themes of deception, childhood myth, entertainment, and display. The work remains a landmark of her career and of the Biennale's recent history. Subsequent recognition has been equally significant: in 2010 she received the Trophée Créateurs sans Frontières for her contribution to the international reach of French culture; in 2016 the Japan Art Association awarded her the Praemium Imperiale in the Sculpture category, one of the most prestigious honours in the global art world; and in 2018 the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern presented her with the Julio González Prize.

Her exhibition record spans more than five decades. A solo presentation at the Städtische Galerie in Munich in 1973 was among her early international appearances; by 1997 she was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami. A major retrospective at the Centre Georges-Pompidou in Paris in 2007 consolidated her place in the canon, followed by a further retrospective at the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Strasbourg in 2012. More recent solo exhibitions include Messaggera at the Villa Médicis in Rome in 2017, A mon seul désir and Sleeping Songs at Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris in 2018 and 2019 respectively, a solo presentation at Frieze New York in 2021, and Laisser aller at Marian Goodman Gallery in 2024. Her work enters 2025 and 2026 with sustained institutional momentum: the exhibition AM CB opens at Centre Pompidou Málaga in November 2025, a presentation at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain runs through August 2026, and a further exhibition at Marian Goodman Gallery is scheduled for summer 2026. Her work is held in the collection of the Institut d'art contemporain in Villeurbanne, and she is represented by Marian Goodman Gallery in both Paris and New York.