Valérie Favre Born 1959 in Evilard, Switzerland

Lives and works in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and Berlin, Germany

Valérie Favre (born in 1959, Evilard, Switzerland, lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Neuchâtel, Switzeralnd), initially pursued a career in theater after completing her training in the early 1980s, before fully dedicating herself to painting. Since 2006, she has been teaching painting at the UDK University of the Arts in Berlin. 

 

At the centre of Favre's imagery is the tragicomedy of the human existence, graspable in myths, literature, philosophy, film or art history. She often paints in series, in an effort to capture the process of the temporal and to become intimate with her subjects and motifs. Favre's paintings open up narratives and conceptual perspectives, moving between figuration and abstraction. She makes references to central positions of early twentieth-century art quoting specific paintings and the symbolism of artists such as Pierre Bonnard, James Ensor or Giorgio de Chirico, but also works by Goya in a way to negotiate contemporary issues. Painting is for Favre a sensory medium and a method of conceptually addressing  questions that are crucial and necessary in our society.

 

Her well-known series "Selbstmord. Suicide" (2003-2013) was first shown in its totality in the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in 2013. The series consists of 129 small format paintings reduced in color shades representing the self-chosen death, partly based on actual facts, partly fiction. The starting point for the works is the very moment of the radical decision to end one’s life, and the self-dramatization of the moment of death. 

 

The series "Théâtres" that she begun in 2007 consists of large scale paintings and also hold an important significance in Favre's oeuvre. In it, the artist lays out figures such as dancers, acrobats, animals, skeletons and the like that recall the motif of the dance of death. The curtains and lamps tell us that they are on a stage. Favre heightens this sense of uncertainty by having her "Théâtres"-paintings hung relatively low in order to better embrace the world around them. She thus opens up a frontal narrative about the darkness and beauty of humanity, about the tragedy and comedy of all life. In her own words ‘the madness of the world’.

 

Favre's latest series “Bateau des poètes” is in keeping with her previous work. Thought of as a homage, the series brings together on small boats, sailing in the darkness of the night, the great literary figures who shaped Favre's life and practice. The series refers as much to intellectual journeys as it does to migration or the last voyage. While some of the paintings feel abstract, others are more figurative. By means of collage, one can see on the vessels the bright faces of the poets Sylvia Plath and Georg Trackl but also the artists Ana Mendieta and Diane Arbus, to name a few. “Bateau des poètes” was shown for the first time in a group exhibition at the Sprengel Museum Hannover in 2020.

 

Valérie Favre's oeuvre has been exhibited internationally since the late 1980s. Solo exhibitions have been showcased among others in the following institutions: Kulturhaus Helferei, Zurich, (2021), Galerie Pankow, Berlin, (2020); Neue Galerie, Gladbeck (2018); Musée d'art et d'histoire, Neuchâtel, Switzerland (2017); Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal (2016); Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf (2016); Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Strasbourg (2015); Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2013); Kunstmuseum Luzern (2009) and Carré d'Art - Musée d'Art Contemporain, Nîmes (2009). 

Works by Favre will be on display from September 2025 in the group exhibition "Elles font la Figuration", Musée de Pully, Pully. Favre has participated in the following group exhibitions: Philara Collection, Düsseldorf (2024); Kunsthaus Grenchen; Musée Jenisch, Vevey; Museo Villa dei Cedri, Bellinzona (all 2023); Centre Dürrenmatt, Neuchâtel (2022); the travelling exhibition ‘Diversity/United: Moscow. Berlin. Paris’, Palais de Tokyo, Paris; State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow and Tempelhof Airport, Berlin (2021), Sprengel Museum, Hanover (2020-2021); MARTa Herford, Herford (2019); Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2018); Albertinum, Dresden (2016); Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2015); Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kôbe (2014); Museum of the Seam, Jerusalem (2012); Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (2012); K21, Düsseldorf (2010) and Musée national d'Art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2009). In 2012, Valérie Favre was nominated for the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp in France. In 2024, Favre was awarded the coveted Prix Meret Oppenheim, the Swiss Grand Prix in art for her work. She has been professor for painting at Berlin University of the Arts since 2006.