Running until October 4, 2026, as part of the Aix Biennale, French artist Jeanne Vicerial presents Incarnation, an ambitious carte blanche presented across four cultural sites in Aix-en-Provence: the Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme, Musée des Tapisseries, Chapelle de la Visitation and Musée Granet. Bringing together sculpture, textiles, costume, photography, film and performance, the project places contemporary creation in dialogue with the city’s historic collections.

Conceived with Christel Pélissier-Roy, director of the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire of Aix-en-Provence, Incarnation explores one of the central concerns of Vicerial’s practice: the relationship between textile and the body. For the artist, fabric is both intimate and universal, something that clothes, protects, reveals and conceals the body, while retaining traces of those who have touched and worn it. Through sewing, weaving and sculptural construction, textile becomes an archive of gestures, memories and histories. Her sculptural figures hover between body and object, suggesting imaginary anatomies, absent bodies and traces of lives once present. Tilda Swinton is a fan!

Each venue offers a different perspective on this dialogue between material, body and history. At the Musée du Pavillon de Vendôme, Vicerial transforms the former residence into something resembling a working studio, making research and experimentation part of the exhibition. At the Musée des Tapisseries, the focus turns to sewing and costume, including her work for Atys, Jean-Baptiste Lully’s opera-ballet directed and choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj. At the Chapelle de la Visitation, works unfold like a procession, creating an immersive encounter between bodies, architecture and time. At the Musée Granet, sculptures enter into conversation with historical works in the museum’s sculpture galleries, while a photographic project made with Leslie Moquin at the Villa Medici further investigates the relationship between bodies and sculpture.

Collaboration is central to Vicerial’s practice. For Incarnation, she brings together photographer Leslie Moquin, filmmaker Louise Ernandez, sculptor Ivan Le Pays, Maison Lesage artistic director Hubert Barrère and philosopher Claire Marin. Her multidisciplinary approach developed through her background in costume design and fashion, her residency at the Académie de France – Villa Médicis in Rome in 2019–2020, and her research at the intersection of art, science and creation. In 2019, she became the first person in France to obtain a SACRe doctorate. Her research and design studio, Clinique vestimentaire, continues to explore the boundaries between ready-to-wear, bespoke clothing and sculpture.

Vicerial’s work has been presented at institutions including the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Villa Medici and Palazzo Farnese in Rome, Collection Lambert in Avignon, the Basilique Saint-Denis and the Musée Soulages in Rodez, where in 2024 she presented her work in dialogue with Pierre Soulages. Her sculptures are also held in the collections of the Centre national des arts plastiques and FRAC Auvergne.

What makes Incarnation compelling is its refusal to separate contemporary art from history. Vicerial’s works do not simply occupy Aix-en-Provence’s museums; they activate them.

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