Jugnet + Clairet

(Anne Marie Jugnet : b. May 25, 1958 - La Clayette, France & Alain Clairet : b. July 7, 1950 - Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France)

Over the past 25 years, Jugnet + Clairet have continuously questioned the status of images and the conditions of their emergence. Working in multiple media, the French born, New Mexico-based artist couple find renewed inspiration in the landscapes and culture of the American southwest.

"Our work, beyond an autobiographical dimension, explores and develops what usually escapes attention in the surrounding world. Everything that imposes itself by a sudden emergence, a strangeness, a dazzlement - everything that requests a steady gaze. Our point of view is peripheral, we are attracted by the margins, the backgrounds, the depths.”
Jugnet + Clairet, 2022

Following a process of deconstruction and reconstruction, Jugnet + Clairet's series are born out of events and objects they encounter during trips, from which they extract details to focus on overlooked areas, grey zones, minor changes, intervals and interstices. They direct their attention to the fringes of the image, the periphery, where information is at best scarce. Since becoming an artist collective in 1997, they have elaborated a unique conceptual approach, that functions according to a specific protocol and continuously reinvented process. For them, the role of the artist is to shed light on what has never been seen or previously addressed.

Anne Marie Jugnet (b. 1958 in La Clayette, France) and Alain Clairet (b. 1950 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France) first met in 1995 and became an artist duo in 1997. Their first exhibition as Jugnet + Clairet was presented the following year at Erna Hecey Luxembourg. Their work has been presented in major institutions worldwide, including MUDAM Musée d'Art moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; MAMCO Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Geneva, Switzerland; Pompidou Center National Museum of Modern Art, Paris, France; Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg; Villa Medici, Rome, Italy; Minsheng Museum, Shanghai, Taikooli in Chengdu, China; New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ; Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, Mexico; Bass Museum, Miami, FL; Museum of Fine Arts, Nîmes, France; Frac Haute-Normandie, Sotteville-Lès-Rouen; Museum of Fine Arts, Rouen, France; Passerelle Center of contemporary art, Brest, France; among others. Their work is part of major institutional collections, including The National Museum of Modern Art in Paris (Pompidou Center), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Bordeaux (CAPC), the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Geneva (MAMCO) and Musée d'Art moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (MUDAM).