Sandrine Llouquet
Ancient spiritual practices, esoteric rituals, re-imagined mythological imagery and religious behaviors have been at the center of my art.
For many years, I have been fascinated by the powerful influences that religions and beliefs have played in many aspects of human existence, and I have been searching for connections between them to try to understand their unshakable importance in the human psyche.
Influenced by psychological and philosophical texts, I have been building an array of realms inhabited by magical, often esoteric, creatures. But my interest in religion lies on the evolution of its rituals, iconography and manifestations rather than on a theological perspective.
Alchemy and syncretism are two recurring key words in my research. Stemming from a personal curiosity in mythology and legends, I collect images, pictures and texts, which then, like in alchemy, are transmuted into esoteric worlds, where eeriness and ethereal magic live side by side. I also see alchemy as a metaphor of my art practice and life – a quest for improving myself as an artist, but as a person and as a mother, a spiritual and intellectual research evolving in parallel with material experimentations.
When living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam during 15 years, Caodaism (a southern Vietnamese monotheistic religion that incorporates teachings from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity) has been another inspiration for me; I see it as an example of Vietnamese cultural and its ability to freely absorb a variety of sources and merge them together without restrictions.
This same principle is applied in my work, where I create my own universe of religious gestures, imageries, rituals and movements, and, through it, the viewers can ascertain my personal creative recollection and make it their own.
Miscellany
Feb 2021 – present
Founder and director of O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon, Portugal (ogabinetedemadamethao.com)
June 2016 – July 2019
Director of Salon Saigon – Heritage and Contemporary Art (salonsaigon.com)
2017 - 2019
Jury member of Villa Saigon, artist residency program by Institut Francais in Ho Chi Minh Ville
2011-2013
Founding member of Saigon Creative monthly talks
2000-2011
Co-founder of Wonderful and Wonderful District – a non-profit organization curating art events, workshops and publications
2007 – 2010
Member of Jetlag – a Vietnam-based DJs and VJ collective
2005-2008
Founding member of Mogas Station – a Vietnam-based artists’ collective
2005-2006
Co-founder of Atelier Wonderful – an alternative art space in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
2002-2004
Director of publication of 5ememur magazine - trimestral magazine/nomadic art space presenting artists site specific works
EDUCATION
1993 – 1997 : École Pilote Internationale d’Art et de Recherche - Villa Arson
Diplôme National d’arts Plastiques
1997 – 1998 : Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Art, Vietnam
1998 – 1999 : École Pilote Internationale d’Art et de Recherche - Villa Arson
Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 (upcoming): A Base Ante-Sala e Salao, Lisbon, Portugal
2019 Chapitre 4 : Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2017 Chapitre 3: Les 101 grandes déesses, Le Point Commun, Annecy, France
2016 The Cabinet of Doctor Komo, Kenpoku Art, Ibaraki, Japan
La diagonale du fou, SPRMRKT, Singapore
2015 Chapitre 2: Midi, L'Espace, Hanoi, Vietnam
2014 Daisy, Daisy, San Art Production, Phuong My Flagship Store, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2013 Chapter 1: Where I attempt to drown the dragon, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Day of Discovery, Renaissance Riverside Hotel, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2012 Ligne de fuite, Post Vidai Collection, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2011 I would prefer not to, Give Art, Singapore
2010 The Complex of the Glass Frog, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2008 Ce que je dis trois fois est absolument vrai, 3x+, Le mois de l’image, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Milk, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2006 Welcome Home, itinerant exhibition organized by Ipso Facto Gallery, apartment of Mai Tran, Christophe Salaun and their children, Nantes, France
2005 Troi oi!, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2004 Bleu presque transparent, Galerie Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux, France
Chambre d’amis, Sandrine Llouquet and Bertrand Peret’s apartment, Bordeaux, France
2003 Livre N°12 (published by Peravprod), La Quincaillerie, Bordeaux, France
2002 Kiki restaurant, Chez Chalana, Bordeaux, France
2000 Un thé chez les fous, No Beach, Bordeaux, France
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 (Upcoming) Metaxu, Toulon, France
2022 "Art in the Park" – Saigon Contemporary Art fair, Park Hyatt Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2020 Natura, Artfem Macau Biennale, China
2019 Where the Sea Remembers, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, US
2018 Alluvium, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2017 The Foliage, VCCA, Hanoi, Vietnam
Iris noirs resilients, Montpellier, France
2016 Transmutations, Galerie Quynh, Ho chi Minh city, Vietnam
2015 Carne Vale (duo show), Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
The Primacy of Drawing, Dia Project, Ho chi Minh city, Vietnam
2014 Papier(s), Fondation Salomon, Annecy, France
Drop, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Spring Galleria, San Art, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Galerie Quynh 10th anniversary, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
On the streets, Java Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
2013 Sovereign Asian Art Prize exhibition and auction in Singapore, Espace Louis Vuitton, Singapore
2012 AAA Annual Foundraiser, Sotherby's, Hong Kong
Group show, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2011 Vis a vis, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Affordable Art Fair, with Give Art, Singapore
Shaping a line, San Art, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Esperantopolis, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Mise en scene, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
The Art of Travel, Air France event, Flow, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Now Boarding. Island Thinking and Flights of Fancy, Give Art, Singapore
2010 Affordable Art Fair, with Give Art, Singapore
Collective Memories: Together in Electric Dreams, Give Art, Singapore
ART HK 10, with Galerie Quynh, Hong Kong
No Soul For Sale 2, with Sanart, Tate Modern, London, UK
No conical hat, Give Art, Singapore
Of reveries and obsessions, Galerie Quynh. Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Bordeaux Block Party, Eponyme Galerie, Bordeaux, France
2009 Half of the Sky, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Hanoi Future Art, Hanoi, Vietnam
Nghe Thuat Sap Dat, Ho Tram resort, Vietnam
Who Do You Think We Are?, Bui Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam
New Asian Promises, Palais Project, Vienna, Austria
2008 FOBII: Arts speaks, VAALA Center, Santa Ana, Californie, USA
Olio the year end show, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, US
Art multiple, Ke Center for the Contemporary Arts, Shanghai, China
transPOP: Korea Vietnam Remix, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, South Korea
Supervues, Hotel Burrhus, Vaison la Romaine, France
2007 Requiem for a wall, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Shenzhen Biennale (with Mogas Station), China (brochure)
Le mois de l’image (with Mogas Station), Ho Chi Minh City Fine Art Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Migration Addicts (with Mogas Station), a collateral event of the 52nd Venice Biennale, Caffè Aurora, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy (brochure and catalog)
2006 LZ (with Mogas Station), Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam
Belief (with Mogas Station), Singapore Biennale 2006 (brochure and catalog)
Jouissance, Xu Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2005 Rendezvous, Blue Space Contemporary Art Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2004 Aujourd’hui c’est ravioli, Galerie Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux, France
Buy sellf, municipal spaces, Marseille, France
2003 Incomprehension (with Le Pavillon), Palais de Tokyo site de création contemporaine, Paris, France
Soleil sur Nantes, Show Bedroom, Nantes, France
Ctrl+O, Inkorporation, Toulouse, France
2001 Generic Workspace, Bordeaux, France
Buy sellf, Galerie BF15, Lyon, France
1999 3 en k, Galerie rue Quineleu, Rennes, France
1998 Hoa si tre, Long Phi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
1997 Tôi là ai, Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Art, Vietnam
1995 Nice by night, with Villa Arson, Nice, France
Performance / Directing, staging
2019 Lub Qhov Rooj, performance, 20’, with dancers Đặng Minh Hiển, Phan Thái Bình, Phan Tiểu Ly, Sùng A Lùng and choreographer Nguyễn Phúc Hùng, Krossing Over Arts Festival, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
2018 Perinthia, performance, 20', with dancer Nguyen Minh Tam and musicians Zach Shreier and Benoit Bottex, Krossing Over Arts Festival, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam / Toulon, France / Paris, France
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE / WORKSHOPS
2023 – upcoming (June 2023) : Group exbibition (Andre Almeida e Sousa, Francisca Carvalho, Run Jiang, Pedro Proenca, Luis Almeida, Constanca Arouca), Metaxu, Toulon, France
2022 : 1 (Thao Nguyen Phan, Truc-Anh, Le Phi Long, Florian Song Nguyen, Mai-Loan Tu, Quentin Spohn, Nina Fraser, Bertrand Peret, Andre Almeida e Sousa, Francisca Carvalho, Run Jiang, Pedro Proenca, Luis Almeida, Constanca Arouca, Madalena Parreira), O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon, Portugal
Ainda não sabemos ao certo que florestas vamos atravessar (Nadege David, oang Duong Cam, Le Phi Long, Bertrand Peret, Pedro Proenca, Francisca Carvalho), O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon, Portugal
2018 Les Villes Invisibles / Festival Krossing Over (Bao Vuong, Florian Nguyen, Sto Len, Hoang Nguyen, Dat Vu), Metaxu, Toulon & L’Etoile du Nord, Paris
2017 Then I Can Turn the World Upside Down (Florian Nguyen, Hoang Nam Viet, Nguyen Manh Hung, Mai Hoang, Le Hoang Bich Phuong), Salon Saigon
To shut his thoughts up,he paints them clear and watches them dry (Mai Loan Tu), L'Usine, Ho Chi Minh city
Salon Saigon Permanent Collection (Bùi Công Khánh, Tiffany Chung, Hà Mạnh Thắng, Hoàng Dương Cầm, Chinh Lê, Dinh Q. Lê, Lê Hoàng Bích Phượng, Lê Thừa Tiến, Nguyễn BanGa, Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Kha, Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Oanh Phi Phi, The Propeller Group, Trần Trọng Vũ, Truc Anh, Trương Tiến Trà, Trương Tân and Võ Trân Châu), Salon Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city
2016 Bittersweet Whispers (Mai-Loan Tu, Ngo Thi Thuy Duyen, Le Hoang Bich Phuong), Salon Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city
2008 AliceIN Miami (with Wonderful District and architect Tam Vo Phi and engineer Olivier Llouquet), organized by Bui Gallery, Miami Beach, US – with the participation of video-artist Stephane Cochard
AliceIN Paris (with architect Tam Vo Phi and engineer Olivier Llouquet), organized by Bui Gallery, Paris, France – with the participation of choregrapher Rachid Ouramdane
2007 AliceIN Saigon (with Wonderful District and architect Tam Vo Phi and engineer Olivier Llouquet), Le mois de l’image, Fine Art Museum, Galerie Quynh, IDECAF, Ho Chi Minh City Photography Association, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – four nights of installation, video and sound performances in the nomadic architectural structure AliceIN – with the participation of Richard Streitmatter-Tran, Robert Cianchi, Nhu Huy
A Wonderful Weekend (with Wonderful District), 72-13, Singapore - 3 days of exhibition, video projection, talks, sound performances, DJ and VJ nights – with the participation of Stephane Cochard, NS101, Madame Patate, Fugu, Vu Nhat Tan, Jean Phan, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Robert Cianchi, Tam Vo Phi
Bonjour Colette (with Wonderful District) – a series of workshops (Flash animation, graphic design, illustration and writing, wall painting, sculpture, video) with children of Ecole Colette – with the participation of Anna Tuyen Tran, Jean Phan, Olivier Llouquet
2006 : Atelier Wonderful (with Wonderful District), Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam - public programming included lectures on the visual arts, architecture, design, illustration, graffiti and other creative expressions; exhibitions, video projections; concerts; presentations of work by students. Events occurred weekly over five months – with the participation of Delphine Trouche, BOOT, GF, G2, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Julie Tseselsky, George Papadimas, Bui Cong Khanh, Justin Barrera, Anna Tuyen Tran, Do Hoang Tuong, Jean-Baptiste Bressy, Richard Streitmatter-Tran, Nhu Huy, Bruno Peinado, Motoko Uda, Seiji Shimoda, Thach Thao, Maharishi, Bui The Trung Nam, Laure Bollinger, Gulschan Gothel, Laurent Jeanneau, Nicolas Lainez, Tam Vo Phi, Karen Maldonado, Ecole Colette, British school…
2005 : Rendezvous (electronic and digital art event, with Wonderful District), Blue Space Contemporary Art Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – with the participation of Heidi, Tran Kim Ngoc, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Bui Cong Khanh, Benoit Maire
Sunday morning (with Wonderful), Galerie Fra Angelico, Nantes, France – publication in collaboration with Frederic Amproux
2003 : Fémina squat (with Wonderful),, La Pieuvre, Point Noire, Republic of Congo - workshop and exhibition with a group of congolese artists organized by PSAP
Wonderful, Lendroit, Rennes, France
2003 : Les enfants du mercredi (with Wonderful), - workshop with children from CapcMusée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, H14, Bordeaux, France – with the participation of Seydou Grepinet
2002 – 2004: 5ememur magazine (with Wonderful - trimestrial magazine/nomadic art space welcoming artists site specific works) – with the participation of Paul Devautour, Seulgi Lee, Ciaddict.org, Laetitia Bourget, Erational, Julien Previeux, Beate Engl, Damien Mazieres, Remi Marie, Marc Vernier, Arnaud Maguet, Francoise Quardon, Pascale Martine-Tayou, Laurent Septier, Frederic Latherrade, Jean-Luc Desmond, Arnaud Ducasse, Bui Cong Khanh, Camille Fallet, Karin Pelte, Pierre Giquel, Maitetxu Etcheverria, Karim Ghelloussi, Patrice Ferreira, Axel Huber, Alexander Raima, Sebastien Blanco, PNCI, Jean-Luc Verna, Inkorporation, Patrich Hospital, Sylvain Courtoux, Anne-Marie Pecheur, Julien Bouillon
2001: Aller-retour (with Wonderful), artistic exchange between Bordeaux and Nantes – exhibitions in museums, cinemas, apartments, art galleries, cafes, night clubs - with the participation of 36 artists and collectives from Bordeaux and Nantes
2000: No Beach (with Wonderful), itinerant exhibition in apartments and a night club, Bordeaux – with the participation of 8 international artists and collectives
WRITING
2006 – 2009 : articles for Noi That magazine, Doanh Nhan Saigon Cuoi Tuan (Vietnam)
2006: Articles for Aart magazine (Vietnam)
2004: Rendez-vous sur un banc public (exposition Sébastien Vonier), Bordeaux Culture Juin
Nicolas Milhé: mémorial “Sicile”, “Portugal”, “Pays de Galle”, catalogue La valise, Nantes
2003 : 16 décembre 2002, catalogue Péravprod, éditions CapcMusée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux
2002 – 2004: articles and interviews for 5ememur magazine
2002 – 2003: articles for TILT (contemporary art newspaper published by the FRAC Aquitaine)
PARTICIPATION IN SYMPOSIUMS AND CONFERENCES
2019: Arts & Museum Summit: « Collection Practices of the 21st Century », organized by Asia Society, New Delhi, India
2018: Cultural and Creative Hubs Vietnam Project - The British Council, Hanoi, Vietnam
Korea Research fellow, 10 global curators x 10 Korean curators: "Asian Visual Culture and Art" - The Korean Culture and Information Service, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea
2017: CIMAM Annual Conference: "The roles and Responsibilities of Museums in Civil Society", National Gallery, Singapore
2006: "Cultural Ecologies: Communicating Contemporary Art in the 21st Century" - Asia Art Archive, Drama Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wanchai, Hong Kong