Léonard Martin

The artist

Born in 1991 in Paris, Léonard Martin currently lives and works in the French capital. The French art scene has been captivated by his work since he graduated from Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2015. In 2025, he was artist-in-residence at the Villa Albertine in New Orleans after a first residency at the French Academy in Rome at the Villa Medici in 2018-2019.. His creative process makes use of drawings, papers and precious sculptures he occasionally animates with stop motion, a motor or video. He finds his subjects by delving into literature and the history of art. Wooden figures on tracks bring to life the characters of Irish novelist and poet James Joyce on their strolls. Italian painter Paolo Uccello’s horse riders serve as a pretext to create an interactive piece. He sometimes takes a break from building marionettes and automatons and uses painting to capture the theatre of objects that is his workshop. Visibly playing with perspective and cultural labels, particularly “painting” and “sculptures”, the scenes he creates generate a dialogue between mediums and eras.


Exhibitions

BirthBorn in Paris in 1991
ResidenceWorks and lives in Paris
Education2017
Le Fresnoy – Studio des arts contemporains, Tourcoing, France
2015
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2025Villa Albertine, French Institute for Culture and Education in New Orleans
2021Lafayette Anticipations. Paris Résidence À l'œuvre !
2019 -2020Cité Internationale des Arts Paris Montmartre
2018-2019Villa Medici, French Academy in Rome, Italy
2018Prix Dauphine, Université Paris-Dauphine
2018Pollen, Artiste en résidence à Monflanquin
2018Villa Belleville, artist residency, Paris

Voir plus

2017Prix de l'ADAGP, Révélation 2017, video and digital art section

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024Rêver debout, Musée des Beaux-Art, Tourcoing, France
Suite Zabriskie, Templon, Brussels, Belgium
2023La circulation des sympathies, presented by Isabelle and Harry Bellet, Château des Gondi, Joigny, France
2020Le Roi Nu, Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, Fontevraud, France

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2023Biennale de Paname 4th Edition, Serre Wangari and Mains d’Œuvres, Saint-Ouen / Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France
Un Salon d’hiver, Bubenberg, Saint-Moritz, Switzerland
2022Sparring Partner, Galerie Sabine Bayasli, Paris, France
2020-2021A Bartleby, Galleria Alberta Pane, Venice, Italy
2019Audi Talents Awards, curating Gaël Charbau, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Biennale de Lyon, curating Vittoria Matarese, Usine Fagor-Brandt, Lyon, France
LORO, curating Hou Hanru and Evelyne Jouanno, Rome, Italy
Viva Villa!, partnership with Villa Medici and Collection Lambert, curating Cécile Debray, Avignon, France
2018Notte Bianca, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy
Outside Our, Révélation Emerige, Paris, France
Today Will Happen, Asia Culture Center and Palais de Tokyo, Biennale de Gwangju, Gwangju, South Korea
Ce que le peu peut, Pollen, Montflanquin, France
Jeune Création 68, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris, France
1+1=1, Villa Belleville, Paris, France
Confinum, Bubenberg, Paris, France
Prix Dauphine : (Hors) Cadre, Université Paris-Dauphine, Galerie du Crous, Paris, France
100%, La Vilette, Grande Halle, Paris, France
Prix Icart, Elephant Paname, Paris, France
Morceaux choisis, Bubenberg, Paris, France
2017Rêvez #2, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
Panorama 19, Le Fresnoy – Studio National, Tourcoing, France
2016Salon de Montrouge 61, Montrouge, France
Panorama 18, Le Fresnoy – Studio National, Tourcoing, France
Félicités 2015, Beaux-Arts de Paris
Curiosités vol.2, curating by Marie Madec, Galerie Sans titre, Paris, France
Only Lovers, an invitation by Timothée Chaillou, Le Cœur, Paris, France

PROJECTS

2022K minuscule, writing and staging with Elvire Caillon, New Settings Hermès, Théâtre de la Cité internationale, Paris, France
2021Tempura Cockpit, writing and staging with Elvire Caillon, CDN Nanterre – Amandiers, Nanterre, France
2019Nuit Blanche, Concorde-Bastille parade, curating Jean-Max Colard and Didier Fusilier, Paris, France
2017Invited Artist, Centre Pompidou – Metz, Metz, France

Press

Connaissance des Arts - February 2025

Gregor Boric et Leonard Martin dialogument au MuBA

Acumen - February 2024

Léonard Martin - Suite Zabriskie

Stéphanie Dulout

Transfuge - January, 2024

Trois jeunes artistes à suivre

Julie Chaizemartin

News

Léonard Martin
À LA LUMIèRE DE JOAN MITCHELL

Group show

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen
From December 5, 2025 to March 15, 2026

On the occasion of the group show À la lumière de Joan Mitchell (In the Light of Joan Mitchell) at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Caen, Léonard Martin will be exhibiting his works from December 5, 2025. The exhibition pays tribute to Joan Mitchell through a dialogue between works by artists with rich inner landscapes.

Léonard Martin
BIENNALE DE PANAME

Group show

Patinoire de Saint-Ouen
From October 23 to November 2, 2025

On the occasion of the 5th edition of the Biennale de Paname, Léonard Martin will exhibit four works from October 23, 2025, at the Patinoire de Saint-Ouen. This free, multidisciplinary festival aims to make contemporary art accessible to a wide audience by highlighting emerging and independent artists.

Léonard Martin
LACOSTE

Installation

Shangri-La, Paris
From April 30 to October 15, 2025

On the occasion of the collaboration between Lacoste and the Shangri-La Paris, Léonard Martin has realized an installation in the Lacoste Pavilion, on view until October 15, 2025.

Léonard Martin
RêVER DEBOUT – MUBA TOURCOING

Solo Show

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing
From September 20, 2024 to February 24, 2025

The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Tourcoing is devoting a solo show to Léonard Martin, curated by Mélanie Lerat and Bénédicte Duvernay, from September 20, 2024.