Marie Bovo's Photography Explores the Historicity of the Everyday

Marie Bovo, born in 1967 in Alicante, Spain, and based in Marseille, presents her photographic work at the Maison européenne de la photographie in Paris from December 15, 2010, to January 30, 2011. Her practice, rich in plastic qualities, engages with theoretical questions about photography as an autonomous art form and its relationship with painting, sculpture, and architecture. Early series like Plages (2003), Ile et lune (2003), Night Drippings (2005), and Feux (2006-2007) focus on nocturnal light, both artificial and natural, exploring the interplay of light, space, and time. Feux involved burning international newspapers in the dark studio, with exposure time matching combustion duration, making visible multiple temporalities. Later series Bab-el-Louk and Cours intérieures shift to real-world diversity and architecture: Bab-el-Louk captures Cairo rooftops from above, while Cours intérieures looks upward from Marseille's Haussmannian courtyards, revealing clotheslines and sky. Her latest series, Grisailles, examines gray-painted ceilings in similar buildings, referencing the history of painting and Michael Fried's concept of 'the historicalness of the everyday.' Bovo's work is characterized by a tension between rigorous framing and rich detail, visual seduction and constrained viewer position. A monograph is published by Kamel Mennour in December 2010. Upcoming shows include Porte d'Aix, a new Frac building in Marseille for the European Capital of Culture 2012.