Biography
Hello, my name is Rachel and I was born in a small sheepfold in the south of France. I grew up in a hippie atmosphere, among goats, barefoot and wild. My parents, then newlyweds, who disagreed with the codes dictated by French society in the 1960s, had decided to settle in a ruin, make cheese and live in self-sufficiency. However, being of bourgeois roots inserted in industrial and artistic circles, they had received a strict and culturally rich education.
So I was steeped in two opposing social contexts. After this idyllic childhood I had to confront the rhythm of the city and continue my studies. Once I finished linguistic high school I undertook three years of the Faculty of Letters and Art History. One day, without conviction about the desire to continue I saw a TV show about the casting of sculptures; I had a revelation and I decided to specialize in the profession of restorer of works of art. So I entered the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Restauration d’Avignon. We were only five or six young girls per year, but our neighbor was the School of Fine Arts, where other students, unlike us, were also boys and were concerned with creating.
Two important criteria in choosing the establishment where I was going to spend five years of my life! I have always felt the need to be in contact with works of art, largely due to the career of my grandfather François Morellet and I had a natural aptitude for creating myself, so I was convinced. In 2001 I graduated with a specialization in contemporary art restoration and have been working in this sector internationally ever since. Then, bored with my homeland, I decided to leave. Always seduced by the idea of moving to New York, I thought it would come to fruition until I got to know Tuscany.
I opened my restoration, creation and exhibition studio there in Vinci for four years which then moved to Prato at the Interno8 studio. In 2014, it became the head office of Artforms, an alternative and independent space for the visual arts, of which I am one of the founding members and in which I occupy the role of curator and artist. Artforms is also part of Puntocon-contemporaneo condiviso, network of eleven independent spaces in Prato.
My artistic work is declined through various techniques, photography, video, drawing, sculpture or assemblages of elements, and a multitude of materials, both natural or artificial. Each work is linked to a moment in my own biographical path, which I like to compare with symbols or universal concepts, in a continuous search for the hidden meaning of things. Through a self-critical gaze seasoned with irony, I seek to create contacts, a complementarity that can narrow the distances between the modern vision of our daily rites and actions, and that of their multiple meanings.
Since 2016, I have been part of the collective group FAMA – Four artists for a metastable art.
Main exhibitions:
Comme de longs échos, La Garenne Lemot, Clisson, 2021.
Murmurations, L’ilôt Sauvage, Niort, 2020.
Ghost Attractor, FAMA: V.Lapolla, E.Sauer, T.Villani, R. Morellet. Mom Art Space, Hamburg, Germany.
Iconosmach, Palazzo Wagner-Fontana, Firenze, 2019
PAC Printemps de l’Art Contemporain, La Déviation, Marseille, 2019.
La confidentielle, Pavillon d’Arte Contemporanea, La Station, Paris, 2018.
Gonzine n° 7, Paris, 2018
BAU n° 13, 14, 15, Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, GAMC, Viareggio. 2016/2017/2018.
Sur la page, abandonnés Vol 2. Les éditions extensibles. Paris. 2017.
Rachel Morellet, Tumble Time, Spazio MOO, Prato. 2016.
PAC 180 – Serate Illuminate. Centro Franco Basaglia, Livorno, 2016
Teach back + io vedo, io guardo, “CRAC centro Ricerca Arte Contemporanea: Ten years 2004/2014”, Careof, Milan, 2014.
Vitraria Glass + Art Museum. Palazzo Nani Mocenigo. Venice, 2014.
Indipendents – Fiera ArtVerona, Verona, 2014.
Riflessi d’Italia, Spazio Cu.Bo, Bologna. 2013.
«…» François Morellet, Rachel Morellet/Julien Lavigne, Florent Morellet. Spazio Vault, Prato, 2010.
Main collaborations:
Symballein. Curated by Artforms e DimoraOz for Creative Wear, Museo del Tessuto, Prato. Iasi, Romania. Palermo, Sicily, Italy.
Le vois de la lumière noire, R. Morellet/R. Di Vaia, SACI Gallery, Florence, 2018.
Skūmaz, a metastable state, with V. Lapolla, R. Morellet, E. Sauer, T. Villani, Villa Romana, Florence. 2017.
Omaggio a Henry James, Performance «Con Te» by Erica Romano, on stage with the piece «Alterstate».
Terrazza di Palazzo Reale, Genova. 2016.
Shameless. Privat Flat #7, Lamortellevigne: Rachel Morellet/Julien Lavigne. Florence. 2011.
Residences : Centre de production artistique La Déviation, L’Estaque, Marseille, 2018
web site: www.rachelmorellet.com
Images :
Le ciel est bleu, Rachel Morellet, 2020, 130x60x40 cm, wood, métal.
Les femmes, Rachel Morellet, 2019, 300x300cm, hot sealed poppy petals.
Dream up, Rachel Morellet, 2019, 90×90 cm, needling on boiled wool.
Future dream, Rachel Morellet, 2016, 42x60cm + 21x31cm, digital print and acrylic paint on paper.
Mum and dad, Rachel Morellet, 2009-2014, 200x100x13 cm, neon on wood.
En forme, Rachel Morellet, 2020, variable size, cuoio.
En Forme/dessins, Rachel Morellet, 2020, 34x24cm each, clay on paper.
Sweat-shirts, Rachel Morellet, 2019, variable size, natural tanins on fabric.
Curriculum
EDUCATION
1995 – Art History, University III, Montpellier, France
2001 – National School of art restauration, Avignon, France
PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS
2016 – Tumble Time. Curated by Spela Zidar, Spazio MOO, Prato, Italy.
2014 – Vicine DiStanze. Curated by Pierluca Nardoni, La bottega instabile, Bologna, Italy.
2007 – Contrastes. Curated by Alessandra Scappini, Cuccirelli art passages. Cassano Magnano (Va), Italy.
RESIDENCES
2018 – Artistic residence at the Centre de production artistique La Deviation. 20 – 30 august 2018, L’Estaque, Marseille, France.
EDITIONS
2018 – Gonzine n° 7. Curated by Sarah Fisthole, Paris, France.
2017 – Sur la page, abandonnés Vol 2. Les éditions extensibles, Paris, France.
BAU 14 – GPS. Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, GAMC, Viareggio, Italy.
2016 – BAU 13 – Dress Codex, Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, GAMC, Viareggio, Italy.
2010 – La revue des gens biens et pas bien du tout n° 2, Paris, France.
COLLECTIVE EXHIBITIONS (Selection)
2021 Comme de longs échos, La Garenne Lemot, Curated by Julie Pellegrin and Jean-Michel Jagot, Clisson, France.
2020 – Murmurations, L’îlot sauvage, Niort, France – Ghost Attractor, FAMA: V.Lapolla, E.Sauer, T.Villani, R. Morellet. Mom Art Space, Hamburg, Germany.
2019 – Iconosmach, Palazzo Wagner – Fontana, Firenze – Curated by Valeria d’Ambrosio – PAC Printemps de l’Art Contemporain, La Déviation, Marseille, France – Symballein. Curated by Artforms e DimoraOz for Creative Wear, Museo del Tessuto, Prato – Iasi, Romania. Palermo, Sicily, Italy – Je vois de la lumière noire, R. Morellet/R. Di Vaia. Curated by Spela Zidar, SACI Gallery, Firenze, Italy.
2018 – Potlatch. Curated by “La Deviation”, l’Estaque, Marseille, France – La confidentielle. Station Galerie, curated by LFDAC. Paris, France.
2017 – Skumaz, a metastable state. Pavillon di Villa Romana, Firenze, Italy.
2016 – PAC 180 – Serate Illuminate – Centro Franco Basaglia, Livorno, Italy – Teach back + io vedo , io guardo “CRAC centro Ricerca Arte Contemporanea: Ten years 2004 – 2014”, Careof, Milano, Italy – Best Wishes. Curated by Alessandra Scappini, Meridiana Country Hotel, Calenzano (FI), Italy.
2015 – Missing Masses #11 – Oltrecittà. Curated by Giacomo Bazzani, Villa la Magia, Quarrata (PT), Italy – Io vedo, Io guardo. Mostra itinerante a favore del CRAC di Cremona. Curated by Annalisa Cattani, Spazio Artforms, Prato, Italy – Missing Masses #2 – Immagina su questo lato. A cura di Giacomo Bazzani, Spazio Hungry Eyes, Milano, Italy.
2014 – Indipendents – Fiera ArtVerona Curated by Start with Art, Verona, Italy – Vitraria Glass+ Art Museum. Curated by Ewald Stastny, Palazzo Nani Mocenigo, Venezia, Italy – ni Haut ni BAs. Curated by Alessandro Gallicchio, Galleria MOO, Prato, Italy.
2013 – Total Space/Spazio Totale. Curated by Alessandra Scappini, D’A spazio d’arte Sincresis, Empoli, Italy –
IN/Contemporanea Via Genova. Curated by Via Genova 17, Contemporanea Festival 2013, Prato, Italy –
Riflessi d’Italia. A cura di Chiara Argenteri e Angela Memola, Spazio Cu.Bo, Bologna, Italy.
2012 – Art Garden. Giardino dell’Orticoltura, Firenze, Italy.
2010 – New Babylon: osservatorio di metamorfosi. Private Flat #6. Curated by Alessandro Gallicchio e Alessandra Acocella, Firenze, Italy – “…” François Morellet, Rachel Morellet/Julien Lavigne, Florent Morellet. Curated by Francesco Funghi and Sara Vannacci, Spazio Vault, Prato, Italy.
2009 – HSP – Hallucinatory Sleep Paralysis. Curated by Francesco Funghi and Sara Vannacci, Studio MDT, Prato, Italy.
2007 – 9 zoom sulla quotidianità. Curated by Sol Henaro, Officina giovani, Prato, Italy – De Soto, esplora te stesso (Emily Dickinson). Curated by Alessandra Scappini, D’A spazio d’arte Sincresia, Empoli 2006, Italy – D.A.B, Oggetti d’arte e di design. Palazzo comunale, Modena, Italy.
2006 – Rotte Metropolitane 2005. Curated by Lorenzo Bruni, SACI, Florence, Italy – Fallen Angel. Galleria Federico Bellini, Cascina (PI), Italy.
2005 – APRE RiartEco, 7°edition, Winner of the 1° price RiartEco, Firenze, Italy.
COLLABORATIONS
2019 – Symballein. R. Morellet/P. Gori. Curated by Artforms e DimoraOz for Creative Wear, Museo del Tessuto, Prato. Iasi, Romania. Palermo, Sicily, Italy – Je vois de la lumière noire, R. Morellet/ R. Di Vaia. Curated by Spela Zida, SACI Gallery, Firenze, Italy.
2018 – BAU 15 – OUT. Project with FAMA: V.Lapolla, E.Sauer, T.Villani, R. Morellet. Contenitore di Cultura Contemporanea, GAMC, Viareggio, Italy.
2016 – Omaggio a Henry James Performance “Con te” di Erica Romano con l’opera “Alterstate”, Palazzo Reale, Genova, Italy – Under Vision + FOG. Performance di e con Eugenia Coscarella e Anna Solinas, in scena con l’opera “Alterstate”. I Maccelli No Theater, Certaldo (FI), Italy – Habitat, La ricomposizione. Di Gloria Campriani Curated by Alessandra Frosini, Palazzo Pretorio, Certaldo Alto (Fi), Italy.
2012 – Notte Contemporanea Via Genova, Lamortellevigne: Rachel Morellet/Julien Lavigne. Curated by Corte Genova 17, Contemporenea Festival 2012, Prato, Italy.
2011 – Shameless, Privat Flat 7. Lamortellevigne: Rachel Morellet/Julien Lavigne. Curated by Alessandro Gallicchio e Alessandra Accocella, Firenze, Italy.
WORKSHOPS
2018 – Workshop with students from Liceo linguistico, Firenze. Curated by Associazione Artour, Villa Romana, Firenze, Italy.
2017 – Territori Contemporanei 2016/17. Workshop and exhibition with students from Liceo Artistico of Montemurlo. Curated by CUT, Prato, Italy.
2007 – Networking – Integration and conflict. Curated by Giacomo Bazzani, Villa Renatico Martini, Monsummano terme (PT), Italy.
2004 – Networking – My home una casa in città. Curated by Arianna di Genova, TRA ART. Firenze, Italy.
