Marguerite Humeau: Turner Prize Shortlist, Kistefos Garden, and a Helsinki Biennial Debut
Marguerite Humeau, a contender for the 2026 Turner Prize, creates her art in a repurposed granary from the 19th century located in Bermondsey, London. Her nomination highlights Torches, a five-part installation that delves into themes of life, death, and spirituality through sculptures of Venus figures and elephants. Collaborating with various specialists, including musician Bendik Giske, she crafts a soundscape featuring amplified microorganisms. Her artistic materials encompass beeswax and yeast. In August, she unveiled The Garden of Resuscitation at Kistefos, showcasing 3D-printed steel models linked to spruce trees. Additionally, Humeau is set to present a large cast aluminium sculpture in Helsinki at the Helsinki Biennial next June. Her 2022 Venice Biennale installation featured 3D-printed flowers, reflecting her view of cities as organic fungal colonies.
Key facts
- Marguerite Humeau is shortlisted for the 2026 Turner Prize for her installation Torches.
- Torches comprises five chapters exploring life, death, transcendence, spirituality, and origin.
- Humeau's studio is in a converted 19th-century industrial granary in Bermondsey, London.
- She collaborated with musician Bendik Giske on a soundscape for Torches using amplified microorganisms.
- The Garden of Resuscitation opened in August at Kistefos, a sculpture park in a Norwegian forest.
- Humeau is commissioned by Helsinki for a cast aluminium sculpture with hundreds of bells, to be installed in Keski-Palisa after premiering at the Helsinki Biennial in June.
- Her materials include beeswax, yeast, maize, and microorganisms, and she once used Black Mamba venom at Tate Britain.
- She studied Design Interactions at the Royal Academy of Art and grew up in the Loire Valley.
Entities
Artists
- Marguerite Humeau
- Bendik Giske
- Eckhart Tolle
- Rutger Bregman
- Jeremy Gray
- Federico Campagna
Institutions
- Turner Prize
- Royal Academy of Art
- Tate Britain
- Venice Biennale
- Kistefos
- Helsinki Biennial
- AnOther Magazine
Locations
- Bermondsey
- London
- United Kingdom
- Loire Valley
- France
- San Luis Valley
- Colorado
- United States
- Norway
- Helsinki
- Finland
- Keski-Palisa
- Thames
- Venice
- Italy