Cathy Coëz

View Cathy Coez’s works featured on Ceramics Now Magazine

Although her work has been devoted to drawing, she first encountered the medium of ceramic in 2007. Ceramic has ever since given the artist an opportunity to explore new possibilities of representation. It has provided a means to re-examine and reassess the artist’s ongoing concerns on the role and nature of the work of art as an artefact.

Cathy Coëz’s three-dimensional ’Clay drawings’ and ’Porcelain drawings’ explore the compositional element of aesthetic and the nature of the ceramic medium. These drawings are organized geometrically (a circle, a disk or a square), and are made out of hundreds of pieces carefully arranged. The clay and porcelain material is tirelessly thrown on a ceramic wheel to form hundreds of unique pieces that are created to form a species of its kind. The substance of the clay, together with the inexhaustible possibility of forms and shapes it offers, has fascinated the artist ever since she started to explore the medium in 2007.

The creative process of these museums-sized pieces are initially conceived through a computer Vector Drawing Program, then each piece is methodically arranged and placed next to each other with painstaking precision. The end result is a response to an ongoing research into the nature of minimalist aesthetic and the sophisticated character of macrocosm and microcosm blend.

“In my previous silkscreen drawings, I used to work with a vast selection of colours. With my ceramic work, I am interested in the monochromatic and minimalist approach to colour, tones and shades. I focus instead on the individuality and uniqueness of each piece. For me, throwing clay is like drawing a shape. I start the process by establishing a form, then gradually organise its volume, rearrange its proportions and finalise its character. The shapes and forms I create seem to organically emerge from between my fingers.” Cathy Coëz

The maturity of Coëz’s approach and techniques used in her ceramic work is reflected on the impressive and often complex monumental composition that invades the gallery space to provoke a strong impact on the viewer. The title of the drawings is purely technical and is only intended to remind the viewer the characteristic of the work that conveys the elemental: the substance, the sequential, the colour, and the number of pieces that form the drawing.

Cathy Coëz is a French Multi-disciplinary artist. She lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. Her artwork has been internationally exhibited in galleries and museums and is part of public and private collections.

Cathy Coëz’s C.V. (resume) – View her works

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 – Brutto gusto gallery – Berlin – Germany
2011 – Galerie Dubois Friedland – Brussels – Belgium
2009 – Galerie Patrick Fourtin – Paris – France
2008 – Galerie Isy Gabriel Brachot – Brussels – Belgium
2007 – Galerie Tomorrowland – Tokyo – Japan
2007 – Galerie Isy Gabriel Brachot – Brussels – Belgium
2006 – Block Knott gallery – Brussels – Belgium
2005 – Galerie Isy Gabriel Brachot – Brussels – Belgium
2005 – Vitrine Martens – Brussels – Belgium
1995 – Galerie Debras-Bical – Brussels – Belgium
1991 – Galerie Kaai – Brussels – Belgium

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 – Art Amsterdam – Amsterdam – Netherlands
– “L’Art de l’Apparence, l’Apparence de l’Art” – Venice biennale – Venice – Italy
– “Kick ceramic” Cultuur centrum – Hal – Belgium
– “De nieuwe oogst” Design Vlaanderen – Brussels – Belgium
2010 – Puls gallery – Brussels – Belgium
– Musée Royal de Mariemont – Morlanwelz – Belgium
– “Objet # Contre-Objet” Musée Ianchelevici – La Louvière – Belgium
– “Circuit céramique aux Arts décoratifs : la scène française contemporaine” Musée des Arts Décoratifs – Paris – France
– XXI ème BICC Biennale Internationale Création Contemporaine et Céramique – Vallauris – France
– Puls gallery – Brussels – Belgium
– Keramik Museum Westerfald – Hohr-Grenzhausen – Germany
– Galerie 9T9 – Brussels – Belgium
– I.S.E.L.P. Institut Supérieur d’Etudes du Langage Plastique – Brussels – Belgium
2009 – 6th International Biennale of Ceramics, Kulturzentrum Kapfenberg – Austria
– Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche 56ème Premio – Faenza – Italy
– Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts fair – Brussels– Belgium
2008 – Honorons Honoré Daumier, Cultuurcentrum – Mechelen – Belgium
2007 – Tomorrowland head office – Tokyo – Japan
2006 – Casadecor – Barcelona – Spain
2006 – Galerie Isy Gabriel Brachot – Brussels – Belgium
2005 – Du sgraffite au graffiti – Brussels – Belgium
– Prix de la biennale de peinture Georges Collignon, Musée des Beux-Arts – Liège – Belgium
– 7ème International Art Fair ZURICH ­ Zürich – Switzerland
– Talent 2005 – Tour & taxis – Brussels – Belgium
– MIMIC – Espaces Vange ­ Liège ­ Belgium
– Centre de la gravure et de l’image imprimée – La Louvière – Belgium
– SIANA Semaine Internationale des Arts Numériques et Alternatifs – Evry – France
– Pura vida natura – Brussels – Belgium
2003 – IAFF Fantoche International Film Festival – Baden – Suisse
– MIFF Melbourne International Film Festival – Melbourne – Australy
– IKFF International Kurz Film Festival – Hambourg – Germany
– IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam – Rotterdam – Netherlands
– Centre de la gravure et de l’image imprimée – La Louvière – Belgium
2002 – HAFF Holland Animation Film Festival – Utrecht – Netherlands
– [sonic] square – Brussels – Belgium
– Argos days – Brussels – Belgium
– Page 3ree ­ Kaaitheater – Brussels – Belgium
– Courtisane Film Festival – Gand – Belgium
– IFFR International Film Festival Rotterdam – Rotterdam – Netherlands
2001 – Argos days – Brussels – Belgium
2001 – L’écrit vain – Brussels – Belgium
1999 – Open Screen, Nova – Brussels – Belgium
1999 – Galerie Flying Cow Project – Brussels – Belgium
1998 – Galerie Debras-Bical – Brussels – Belgium
1995 – Biennale de Charlevilles-Mézières – Charlevilles-Mézières – France
1994 – Biennale des Jeunes Talents de Charleroi – Charleroi – Belgium
– Galerie La Pardalera – Elne – France
– Drawings Galerie – Tournai – Belgium
– Exposition “Itinéraire” – Brussels – Belgium
– Parcours d’Artistes de Saint-Gilles – Brussels – Belgium
– Galerie Debras-Bical – Brussels – Belgium
1992 – Centre Culturel Jacques Franck – Brussels – Belgium
1989 – Galerie des Beaux-Arts de Paris – Paris – France

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2010 – Musée Royal de Mariemont – Morlanwelz – Belgium

AWARDS
2010 – Design Vlaanderen member – Brussels – Belgium
2009 – Third prize, Premio Faenza – Faenza – Italy

BACKGROUND
2011 – Master class, Cultuurcentrum Strombeek – Grimbergen – Belgium
2008 – Aide à la création de la communauté française de belgique – Brussels – Belgium
2005 – Workshop at Wolfensberger studio – Zurich – Switzerland

EDUCATION
1988-1993
– MA Fine Arts Degree, ENSAV Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre, Brussels – Belgium
1986-1990
– MA Fine Arts Degree, ENSBA Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris – France
1983-1986
– Bachelor of Fine Arts, Lycée de Sèvres, Académie de Versailles – France

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