1972, Marseille (FR)
Lives and works in Amsterdam and Marseille.
Aëgerter’s extensive oeuvre comprises of photographs, tapestries, site-specific installations, community projects and artist’s books.
Her works are rooted in her fascination for transitions from one state of reality to another, doubling, visual illusions, appearing and disappearing.
By making an inventive use of archives and existing images, from illustrated books to museum collections, she examines the archive that shapes our collective memory.
Her transcultural and transhistorical practice reflects on the meaning of the image in relation to identity and shared memories.
In recent years she shifted her focus to the fragile edges of the human mind and applied her playful appropriation of images in collaborative projects involving, among others, patients dealing with mental health issues, neurologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists.
Laurence Aëgerter has exhibited in several international solo and group shows and made site-specific installations and art in community projects in assignment for a number of cities and museums.
A selection of solo exhibitions include: ‘Ici mieux qu’en face’ Musée du Petit Palais Paris; ‘Cathédrales’ Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles; ‘Le Louvre’ MAMAC Nice; ‘Arithmetic of photographic perception’ Forum für Fotografie Cologne; ‘Epic of the Mind’ Museum of the Mind Haarlem; ‘Herbarium Cataplasma’ Fries Museum Leeuwarden; ‘The Modernists and More’ Hermitage Museum Amsterdam.
A selection of group shows: ‘From Here On’, Les Rencontres de la Photographie, Arles/Santa Monica Arts Museum Barcelona/ FoMu Antwerp; 5e Lagos Photo Festival Nigeria; ‘Conceptual Photography’ Art Affairs Gallery Amsterdam, ‘Making Africa’ Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, ‘Rendez-vous avec Frans Hals’ Frans Hals Museum Haarlem and ‘Quick scan’ II Fotomuseum Rotterdam.
Aëgerter won the French national photographic commission 2023, the Nestlé International Prize for Photography, Festival Images Vevey 2015 and the Author Book Award at the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles 2018. The Centre des Monuments nationaux gave her a photographic carte blanche in 2023.
Actes Sud published her monograph, Ici mieux qu’en face in 2021.
Her works are included in private and public collections of, amongst others, Paul Getty Center Los Angeles, The New York Public Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, Nederlands Fotomuseum Rotterdam, Museum Voorlinden Wassenaar, Museum of the Mind Haarlem, Fries Museum Leeuwarden, Museum van Loon Amsterdam, MAMAC Nice, Musée Borély Marseille, Musée des Beaux-Arts Nancy, Musée national de la céramique Sèvres, BnF Bibliothèque Nationale de France Paris and Musée du Louvre Paris.
Born in 1972 in a family of antiquaires in Marseille, France
Lives and works in Amsterdam since 1993, as in Marseille
Mother of Alice since 2001 and married to Uwe since 2018
Dyscalculia, vertigo, asthma, fluctuatingly fluent in French, English, Dutch, German and Italian
Learning
At the age of eight or nine I imagined my future as a detective, a police commissioner or a spy. Investigation of unknown grounds, focal points cultural anthropology and Art. I came to Amsterdam to study Art History (cum laude, 1997 ‘Trompe-l’oeils in Dutch 17th century paintings’). Some years later educated as a visual artist at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. A recurring cycle, in learning and other professional activities: explore, analyze, inspire and exchange.
Education
1991-1997 Drs. Art History, Faculté des Lettres, Aix-en-Provence (FR) and VU (Vrije Universiteit) Amsterdam (NL), cum laude.
2001-2005 Drs. Fine Art, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam (NL)
Prizes and grants, a selection
Laureate of the French national photographic commission (2023)
Winner of the Author Book Award for Photographic Treatment ©, Les Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, FR. (2018)
Finalist of the VSB National care innovation prize for the project Photographic Treatment ©. (2017)
Winner Nestlé International prize for photography, Festival Images Vevey, CH. (2016) Stipendium for established art practice Het Mondriaan Fonds, NL. (2015-2019)
Young talent grant, Fonds BKVB Netherlands Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, NL. (2009 – 2011)
Winner Charity Award NRC Handelsblad, in the context of a photographic commission by the Rembrandt Association, NL. (2014)
Sharing
Solo exhibitions, a selection
2025 ‘L’espoir brille comme un brin de paille dans l’étable’, Abbaye du Thoronet (FR)
2024 ‘Elasticity of Presence’, Gallery Bildhalle, Zürich (CH)
2023 ‘Epos van de Geest’ (Epic of the Mind), Museum van de Geest, Haarlem (NL)
2022 ‘Eloge du double’, Galerie Binome, Paris (FR)
2020 ‘Ici mieux qu’en face’, Musée du Petit Palais, Paris (FR)
curators Christophe Leribault, Clara Roca, Fannie Escoulen
2019 ‘La main et l’oeil’, Galerie Caroline O’Breen, Amsterdam (NL)
2018 ‘Cathédrales’, curator Fannie Escoulen, Les Rencontres de la Photograhie, Arles (FR)
2017 ‘Arithmetic of photographic perception’, curator Norbert Moos, Forum für Fotografie, Cologne (DE)
2016 ‘Photographic Treatment ©‘, Festival Images Vevey (CH), winner of the Nestlé International Photo Prize
‘Photographic Treatment ©’, Art Affairs Gallery, Amsterdam (NL)
2015 ‘Herbarium Cataplasma‘, curator Kie Ellens, Fries Museum,Leeuwarden (NL) 2013 ‘The Modernists and More‘, Hermitage Museum, Amsterdam (NL)
‘Works in textile’, Galerie Maud Barral, Nice (FR)
2010 ‘Le Louvre’, curator Rebecca François, MAMAC (Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain), Nice (FR)
2010 ‘Seek & Hide’, Museum van Loon, Amsterdam (NL)
2009 ‘Appropriations’, curator Marieke Wiegel, Institut Néerlandais, Paris (FR)
Group exhibitions, a selection
2024 ‘L’ombre, le reflet, l’écho’, MAMAC au Palais Lascaris, Nice (FR) with a.o. Natacha Lesueur and Robert Malaval.
2023 ‘The Changing Landscape: from Voerman to Van der Linden’, Museum de Fundatie / Kasteel het Nijenhuis, Heino / Wijhe (NL)) with a.o. Ger van Elk and Charley Toorop
2022 ‘Devenir fleur’, MAMAC, Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Nice (FR) Group exhibition with a.o. Yto Barrada and Otobong Nkanga
2022 ‘Alternative realities’ at Unbound/Unseen, curator Damarice Amao, with a.o. Anna Malagrida and Neoza Goffin, Amsterdam (NL)
2021 ‘Nouvelles distances’ (New Distances), Jeu de Paume, with a.o. Charlotte Moth and Raphaël Dallaporta, Paris (FR)
2019 ‘Rendez-vous with Frans Hals’, curator Ann Demeester with a.o. Mieke Bal and Roy Villevoye, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (NL)
2018 ‘Big Botany: Conversations with the Plant World’, curator Stephen H. Goddard, with a.o. Mark Dion and Anna Atkins, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas (USA)
2018 ‘Zomergasten’, curators Bart Marius and Esther Vossen with a.o. Fransje Killaers and Anouk Kruithof, Museum Dr. Guislain, Gent (BE)
2016 ‘I wanted to be a photographer‘, curators Fannie Escoulen and Anna Planas, with a.o. Stéphanie Solinas, Fondation Colectània Barcelona (ES)
2016 ‘Quick Scan NL#02‘ curator Frits Giersberg, with a.o. Jan Hoek and Mariken Wessels, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (NL)
2015 ‘Making Africa. A Continent of Contemporary Design‘, curators Amelie Klein and Okwui Enwezor Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (ES)
2015 ‘Avoir Lieu‘, Mois Européen de la Photographie, with a.o. Bisagno-Baltzer and Joël Bartolomeo, Luxembourg (LU)
2014 ‘Tristes Tropiques: Illustrations hors texte‘, curator Azu Nwagbogu, Lagos Photo Festival, Lagos (NG)
2011 ‘From Here On, curators Martin Parr, Joachim Schmid, Joan Fontcuberta, Clement Cheroux and Erik Kessels, Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles (FR) and Centre d’Art Santa Mónica Barcelona (ES) and FOMU (Foto Museum) Antwerp (BE)
Commissions; a selection
2024 Commande du MAMAC, carte blanche pour une oeuvre in situ au Palais Lascaris, Nice (FR)
2023 Carte blanche photographique by the CMN, Centre des Monuments Nationaux de France
2022 Commande photographique nationale, ‘Performance’, Ministère de la culture and Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP)
2018 The Methuselah Legacy, art project for the elderly care company Zorgbalans (NL)
2018 De Palmenkolonie (The Colony of Palms) curator Anne Reenders, for Stichting de Maatschappij van Weldadigheid (The Society of Benevolence) and Stichting Land Art Contemporary (NL)
2017 Elasticity of Presence, curator Ann Demeester, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem (NL)
2016 Le Saint Joseph Charpentier, Georges de La Tour curators Dimitri Salmon and Laurent Thurner, Musée Georges de La Tour, Vic-sur-Seille (FR)
2015 LEVIATHAN, Museum Het Dolhuys van de Geest (Museum of Psychiatry), Haarlem (NL) 2015 Forgetting Van Gogh, city of Arles (FR)
2014 Herbarium cataplasma, a community art project, city of Leeuwarden (NL) 2013 Longo Mai, four tapestries, Musée Borély des Arts décoratifs, de la Faience et de la Mode, Marseille European Capital of Culture (FR)
2011 32 TFS Double Life, art installation in former military base Soesterberg, curators Ella Derksen and Tom van Gestel, CBK Utrecht, SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Domain) (NL)
2010 Blind’s Man Bluff I & II, two tapestries, Conseil Général des Bouches du Rhône, Château d’Avignon (FR).
Residencies
2025 EKWC European Center for research in Ceramics
2020 Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Cité de la céramique (FR)
2017 Compositions Catalytiques, ‘Het Vijfde Seizoen’ (the Fifth Season), curator Esther Vossen, Altrecht (NL)
2010 Tristes tropiques: illustrations hors texte, Kunsthuis SYB, Beesterzwaag (NL) 2009 An Alphabetical Index of Some of the Stories, BijlmAIR, curator Eva Brinkman, CBK Zuid Oost and Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (NL)
2009 Opening Soon/Opening Now, RED A.I.R., curator Angela Serino, with a.o. Egle Budvytyte and Ahmed Oghut, for the city of Amsterdam (NL)
Counselling
Until now – 2014 Mentor for young artistic talents, in assignment for The Mondriaan Fonds and Cultuur Ondernemen, Amsterdam (NL)
2019 – 2017 Advisor for Fine Arts project grants for the AFK, Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, (NL)
Educational experience
2012 Fine art teacher KABK Koninklijke Academie Beeldende Kunst, The Hague (NL)
2007-2009 Teacher of Art theory, and Fine art teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam (NL)
Until now – 2005 developer and coordinator of children educational art programs (a.o. Rijksmuseum, Hermitage museum, De Nieuwe Kerk, British School of Amsterdam)
Artist’s talks and Panel discussions; a selection
‘Weekend with Unseen’, The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, RU. (2018)
‘INSIDE/OUT’ lecture series at Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK. (2017)
‘The Thing’, Women University Tokyo curated by Prof. Dr. Yasuo Imai. Tokyo, JP. (2016)
‘Tristes tropiques and more’ Salon für Kunstbuch, curator Bernhard Cella, Museum 21er Haus, Vienna, AU. (2014)
‘Laurence Aëgerter’s artist’s books’, curator Sebastian Hau, 5eme International Photobook Festival Kassel, Le Bal, Paris, FR. (2012)
Participation in the China-Europe Forum, Visual Arts working group, Pekin and Hong Kong, CN. (2010)
Landing / Legacy / Archive .. if I were run over by a tram
Works in public collections, a selection
Photographs, textiles and other works: The New York Public Library, New York; Paul Getty research Center Institute, Los Angeles; Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas, (USA); Nestlé Art Collection (CH); BnF, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; Musée Borély des Arts décoratifs et de la mode, Marseille; MAMAC, Nice; Musée des Beaux-Arts Nancy; Sèvres Manufacture et musées nationaux; Musée Georges de La Tour, Vic-sur-Seille (FR); Dutch Ministry of Foreign affairs; AMC Hospital, Academisch Medisch Centrum; Museum van Loon, Amsterdam; Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar; Museum Het Dolhuys, Museum of Psychiatry and the Mind, Haarlem; Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (NL)
Artist’s books: Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, New York; John M. Flaxman Library, The School of Art Institute of Chicago, Robert B. Hass family library, Yale University (USA), V&A Museum, London (UK), Tate Gallery, London (UK), Chelsea College of Art and Design, London (UK); The Archive of Modern Conflict, London (UK); Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (ES); Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne (CH); MAK, Osterreichisches Museum für Angewandte und Gegenwartse Kunst, Vienna (AU); Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (NL); Koninklijke Bibliotheek The Hague (NL); BnF, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; Musée du Louvre, Paris (FR)
Bibliography, selection
Fannie Escoulen and others, ‘Ici mieux qu’en face’, monographic book, Actes Sud Publishers, 2020.
Gilles Renault, ‘Laurence Aëgerter aux marches du palais’, Libération 2024.
Diane Lisarelli, ‘Laurence Aëgerter, les trames du temps qui passe’, Libération, 2020.
Fannie Escoulen, ‘L’art de l’évasion de Laurence Aëgerter’, ArtPress, 2019.
Norbert Moos, ‘Arithmetik der fotografischen Wahrnemung’, adress Forum für Fotografie Köln, 2017. Camille Joseph and Anaïs Maurin, ‘Sur le vif, photographie et anthropology,’ Musée Quai Branly, 2018 Frits Scholten, Netherlands Year book for the History of Art, ‘Arts of Display’, 2016 Raymond van den Boogaard, NRC, ‘Een nieuwe toekomst voor de separeer’, 2015 Jean Luc Joly, ‘Les Cahiers Georges Perec,’ 2010
Reflection
Visual illusions, doubling, appearance and disappearance, and infiltrations as a filter from one state of the real to another, but also by oracle’s, sleights of mind and the persuasive power of images and the responsibility they carry along. Convinced by the transformational power of art, on the individual level as much as on the level of community and society.