Maxime Testu FR, b. 1990
Maxime Testu, co-founder of Le Marquis, an independent space that, since 2017, has given rise to various projects and exhibitions, contributing to the development and autonomy of a new generation of artists within the art scene.
Maxime Testu’s work revolves around a repertoire of images, objects and forms that move between the everyday and the imaginary. His paintings and sculptures draw on still lifes, landscapes, domestic objects and archetypal forms which, once displaced from their original context, acquire a strange and unexpected character.
His practice questions the boundaries between artistic genres and categories, incorporating references from painting, decorative arts, design, printmaking and popular culture. Through light, colour and the transformation of forms, Testu constructs a visual universe in which the recognisable coexists with the ambiguous, and where a familiar image can acquire a new presence.
From his early exhibitions to his presence in important French institutions, Maxime Testu’s career reflects a constant evolution. His work is now held in public collections such as those of FRAC Île-de-France and CNAP, marking the consolidation of a distinctive artistic language in continuous transformation.
He has also participated in various group exhibitions across France, Switzerland and Belgium, including at FRAC Grand Large in Dunkirk, Fondation Ricard and Salon de Montrouge in Paris, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne in Reims, Les Tanneries – Centre d’art contemporain in Amilly, and Collectible in Brussels.
Maxime Testu lives and works between Paris and Normandy.
lives and works in Paris (FR).
Education
2016
Work.Master Diploma, HEAD – Genève, Geneva (CH)
2014
DNSEP in Fine Arts (with Special Honors), ENSBA Lyon (FR)
2012
DNAP in Fine Arts, ESAD Reims (FR)
Public Collections
2025
Collection Nationale des Arts Plastiques (CNAP), France
2024
Zhi Art Museum Collection, Chengdu (CN)
FRAC Collection, France
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Premières Images, Galerie Elsa Meunier, Paris (FR)
2024
Une pastorale, Poush, Aubervilliers (FR)
2023
Extra Fine Darkness, Backslash Gallery, Paris (FR)
2022
Désastre, Centre d’art Café des Glaces, Tonnerre (FR)
2021
Still Life Panorama, Idealfrühstück, Paris (FR)
2020
Skeleton Closet, Espace d’art CAPV, Lille (FR)
Group Exhibitions
2025
Quatre Chemins, Fondation Château La Coste (FR)
Beyond the Surface, Galerie Elsa Meunier, Paris (FR)
Landscaping, Galerie Bernier/Eliades, Brussels (BE)
My Onions Are Canvases, DS Galerie, Paris (FR)
Variations on Korean Legacy, Mignon Show, Paris (FR)
Éloge de l’ombre, Espace Anne Carpentier, Arles (FR)
Run Fair, Espace Reset, Brussels (BE)
2024
Kindred Spirit, Paris (FR)
2023
Sad Vacation, Les Îles Mardi, Brussels (BE)
2022
And Now I'll Be Dancing, B612, Rennes (FR)
Prix Don Papa, Paris Design Center, Paris (FR)
Nouvelle Melancholy, Galerie Myriam Chair, Paris (FR)
Collectible, Collectible Fair, Brussels (BE)
Unbuilt (curated by Alexandra Fau), Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris (FR)
Global Pool Club, Poush Manifesto, Paris (FR)
2021
Acme Vision, SB34 The Pool, Brussels (BE)
Object of Love and Hate, duo exhibition with Hélène Labadie, Villa Belleville, Paris (FR)
Avalanche, PAL Project, Paris (FR)
The Pole Gallery, Paris (FR)
Archipel, Frac Grand Large, Dunkerque (FR)
Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream, Poush Manifesto, Paris (FR)
2020
La Capitale: Tomes 1 et 2, Vol. 2, Centre d’art Les Tanneries, Amilly (FR)
Claustrum, Galerie Édouard Escougnou, Paris (FR)
La Capitale: Tomes 1 et 2, Centre d’art Les Tanneries, Amilly (FR)
2019
Thunder Tropic, Parcours d’art contemporain en Vallée du Lot, Maison des Arts Pompidou, Cajarc (FR)
Commis d’office, Atelier Alain Lebras, Nantes (FR)
Au bord de l’âge adulte, FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims (FR)
64th Salon de Montrouge, Beffroi de Montrouge (FR)
Maxime et Raphael, duo exhibition with Raphaël Rossi, Espace Témoin, Geneva (CH)
2018
Interstices, Biennale Émergences, CND, Pantin (FR)
Selected for the Prix Ricard 2018, Fondation Ricard, Paris (FR)
Gagner malheur, Smallville, Neuchâtel (CH)
Selected for the 68th edition of Jeune Création, Beaux-Arts de Paris (FR)
Which Drinking Buddy Are You?, with Raphaël Rossi, Les Chiffonniers, Dijon (FR)
La technique, affirmatif! Quand ça?, Le Cœur, Paris (FR)
Amour Metal Amour Metal Amour Metal Amour Metal, Paris (FR)
2017
Au-delà du bien et du bad, La Capella, Paris (FR)
A Period Room, Atelier B, Marsannay-la-Côte (FR), with Christoph Gossweiler, Olivier Mosset, Camille Besson and Raphaël Rossi
Calzone, duo exhibition with Mathias Pfund, HIT, Geneva (CH)
La ronde, Le Marquis, Paris (FR)
Residencies
2021
Villa Belleville (with Hélène Labadie), Paris (FR)
2018–2019
Archipel, in partnership with FRAC Grand Large, Lille (FR)
La Fabrique (curated by Léo Guy-Denarcy), Centre d’Art Contemporain du Parc Saint-Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux (FR)
2018
Summer Camp (curated by Christophe Kihm), Swiss Institute, Rome (IT)
