The art of making laughs at Mlle Meurisse
The women between the texts
and the pictures
Born in 1980, Catherine Meurisse first studied at the university of Poitiers (France) in the field of contemporary literature and writing. But, she didn't really like it, thus, she will move to Paris to study in two different schools. The first one being the École publique Estienne ESAIG, a school particular designed around the learning of printing technique and graphic art, and later on the École National Supérieur des Art Décoratifs. She will later join the satiric magazine Charlie Hebdo from 2005 until 2016.
Now, 42 years old, she has her first solo exhibition in the German-speaking world at the Cartoonmuseum in Basel, thanks to the curatorial work of Anette Gehrig (the director of the institution).
Titled "Catherine Meurisse. L’humour au sérieux", the exhibition encompass a wide variety of mediums such as drawings, archival materials, novels, and books. Thus, the show mostly focus from her years working at Charlie Hebdo until her latest works and book titled "La jeune femme et la mer".
Before and after - Charlie Hebdo
Like I said before, the exhibition started out with an eleven years collaboration with the satiric journal Charlie Hebdo from 2005 until 2016.
At that time, she just became the first women to join the editorial team of the satiric magazine, and she will, during 10 years create numerous cartoons and caricatures based on the titled and news. She will later one have the responsibility to create numerous covers of the magazine and making long comic reportage.
All of those works will be make while she's making her weekly strip titled "Scènes de la vie hormonale", focusing on the theme of feminity, love, relationships and desires, while showcasing her feminist side.
In 2015, Charlie Hedbo had an attack. While she escaped the attack, on which twelve people died, she will be traumatised, for life. She will stop her daily works for the Charlie Hebdo, she will quit her job in 2016 and start a new creative life made with longer novels and wider and softer subjects.
With her two new novels titled "La Légèreté" and "Les Grands Espaces", she will go back to her childhood, when her parent just bought a farmhand in the French Countryside. Thus, she will aim to create a new narrative around this wild-land, her childhood and her first encounter with art.
Nature and Art, and back and forth
With her new editor (Dargaud), the artist will more of less focus on two subjects: art and nature.
With the theme of nature, she goes back to her childhood and her life in the French countryside, in her parent farm (which was in renovation). At that time, she had a "slow life", looking and observing nature, perceiving the smells of the flowers and looking at the wonderful colors gifted by our nature.
After a recent trip to Japan, she recently (re)focus her interest into non-European country and their perception of nature. With this new novel titled "La jeune femme et la mer", she told the story of her perception of the Japanese landscape, which will transformed itself before the Typhoon Hagibis.
The second major theme of her career is art and literature. She will always being inspired by older artists such as Proust, Rabelais and Montaigne, which she made a novel titled "Mes hommes de lettres". She will also tell her story of her museums visits at the Louvre, with "Delacroix" from 2019 and her immersion into the painting of the Musée d'Orsay in 2014.
Informations about the exhibition
Place: Cartoonmuseum Basel
Date: 6.11.2021 – 13.3.2022
Curators: Anette Gehrig
Ticket: Available at the front desk of the museum
Informations about the Cartoonmuseum Basel
Cartoonmuseum Basel
St. Alban-Vorstadt 28
CH-4052 Basel
Phone: +41 61 226 33 60
Fax: +41 61 226 33 61
Mail: info@cartoonmuseum.ch