Marie de Villepin: Le Jardin Retrouvé at Espace MurAIlle

Each work is a search, an effort to unearth what has been forgotten, a journey through the layers of time and matter. Under the brush of Marie de Villepin, the garden becomes the symbol of a lost space, almost erased, but never entirely disappeared. At the crossroads of fragility and resilience, this exhibition questions what remains beneath the ruins: a wildflower, a laugh etched in stone, a fragment of humanity glimpsed through chaos.

In this garden, the artist invites us into a process of restoration: not just of forms or colors, but of memories. Each brushstroke is an attempt at reconciliation with a fragmented past, a struggle against oblivion. Painting on torn walls, on the wind, or on water, is an attempt to hold on to what fades and restore the outlines of a world before the deluge.

Thus, Le jardin retrouvé aims to be the wager of a rebirth. In a world where everything seems to waver, between the stone pillars, a garden stands tall, ready to be reborn.

ON LE JARDIN RETROUVÉ FROM MARIE DE VILLEPIN

Every day, a watchword, a resolution to ward off evil.

Every day, when I woke up, I felt the same: my head covered in ashes, my eyes clogged with images, my heart full of rage. Everywhere, tears, mud puddles, sheets of blood, invading everything. I walked through the city, crossed the forest, climbed mountains and crossed many deserts, spanning rivers and oceans. Limbs heavy, hesitant, proliferating.

Everything overflows and mingles, the body grounded by too much weight and secretly dreaming of lightening: no more hair, no more teeth, no more flesh. Only the desire to fade away. I envied the feather, the bird, the leaf carried by the wind. I watched it fly around me, light and carefree. And I dreamed of a very old garden, almost destroyed by time. And I dreamt of a long brush to bring back to life on the canvas, which, like a magic tool, would erase the overflow, to breathe life back into the words and see again, what I could no longer make out amidst the barely sketched shapes, the crumbling colors, the scattered fragments. With determination: digging again and unearthing old images.

Repetition becomes breathing. Creation emerges from the same gesture. And behind appearances, another face, another garden will emerge, perhaps... with unknown shapes, never-before-seen hues, unknown sensations, a whole palette to be cleared and sounds to be discovered, one by one, like rose petals.

Then, carried away by a new desire, to paint on the perforated walls, to decipher the signs, to excavate the rubble to heal memories, to revive the memory of those who once were: a silhouette that disappears before I can catch it, a lizard running between the stones, a wild flower that resists. The brush caresses, explores, reveals.

In the midst of the remains, there are still laughs, as if engraved in stone on the pediment of a flickering present.

So, to paint on the water, to paint on the wind, to try to hold back nature as it cracks, to straighten man as he bends, to restore the origin before the floods, before the murder of Cain, before the betrayal of Babel. And sign his name, seal every dream and every breath, even if the letters blur.

Amid the ruins, between the stone porticoes, a garden stands, half-erased, ready to be reborn.

ABOUT ESPACE MURAILLE

Espace Muraille, nestled in the heart of the historic fortifications of Geneva's Old Town, is a unique exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art. Founded over ten years ago by Éric and Caroline Freymond, passionate collectors and patrons, this space embodies their vision of a place where deep artistic connections and privileged dialogues are woven between artists and the public.

The program, guided by Caroline Freymond, the gallery’s artistic director, offers visitors an immersion into often rare works and exclusive projects, in constant conversation with the singular architecture of this historic setting. Temporary exhibitions, personal installations, performances, and cultural encounters reflect the founders' passion and their commitment to introducing the artists who move them to a broader audience.

After large-scale exhibitions dedicated to Monique Frydman (2015), Tomás Saraceno (2015), Shirazeh Houshiary (2016), Sheila Hicks (2016), Edmund de Waal (2017), and Olafur Eliasson (2018), Espace Muraille has given several carte blanche opportunities to international artists, including Israeli artist Michal Rovner in 2019 for her first exhibition in Switzerland, Latin American visual artist Eamon Ore-Giron in 2021, and Swedish painter Andreas Eriksson in 2023.

In the same spirit of showcasing the works and artists dear to the Freymonds, Espace Muraille is also dedicated to supporting young talents and providing a platform for emerging artists on the contemporary scene.