On a bone, Françoise Pétrovitch

This summer, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain presents solo exhibitions by two major figures of the French contemporary art scene : Françoise Pétrovitch at MO.CO. and Jean-Marie Appriou at MO.CO. Panacée. In parallel, the 2025 graduate exhibition from MO.CO. Esba (curator Sophie Lapalu) will be held at the remarkable heritage site of the Faculty of Medicine in Montpellier.

Born in Chambéry in 1964, Françoise Pétrovitch has produced a prolific body of work since the 1990s, in which she utilises a number of mediums and techniques, such as ceramics, bronze, video, painting, wash and drawing. By virtue of a constant conversation with the artists who came before her, she takes on the traditional subjects of art history – portraits, landscapes and still lifes – and folds them into a new reading of the world marked by an absence of hierarchy. The ambivalent universes she creates, peopled by a galaxy of living beings, from animals to plants to humankind’s immense diversity, play on paradoxical atmospheres that waver between the visible and the invisible, light and dark, unaltered and hybridised. This porous approach to boundaries is what enables Françoise Pétrovitch to focus the heart of her work on questions of intimacy, fragmentation, doubles, disappearance, solitude, transition and cruelty.

The MO.CO. exhibition is resolutely ambitious. Designed in close collaboration with the artist, it covers the entire spectrum of mediums and themes she explores in her work, including her relationship with directing, and brings together close to 130 pieces made between 1994 and 2025. Some of these, particularly those from the 1990s, will be shown to the public for the first time, while others – 30 or so – were created specifically for the MO.CO. project. 

Curators : Rahmouna Boutayeb and Numa Hambursin

Catalogue

The exhibition comes with a richly illustrated catalogue in French and English, published for the occasion by Silvana Editoriale, with graphic design by Atelier Tout va bien. It includes a previously unpublished text by Numa Hambursin and a conversation between Françoise Pétrovitch and Rahmouna Boutayeb.

Passer à travers [Pass Through]

An exhibition-workshop by artist Françoise Pétrovitch, for ages 3

As part of the exhibition On a Bone and in connection with the upcoming opening of Mille formes, a center for artistic initiation for children aged 0-6 in Montpellier, MO.CO. will host the Passer à travers project, designed by Françoise Pétrovitch for the Centre Pompidou. 
Artist Françoise Pétrovitch presents an interactive installation where the familiar characters from her artistic universe come to life in three-dimensional form. Line, stroke, color, and drawing take on a new dimension, transforming into a unique sculptural experience. 
A world of plants, animals, and human figures fills the space, standing like an enigmatic horde. Holiday workshops, art activities, guided tours — find out more about MO.CO.’s programs for young audiences in the agenda section.