Nathalie Du Pasquier

Nathalie Du Pasquier is a contemporary artist and designer. She is best known as a founding member of the Memphis Group, a design collective that was active from 1980 to 1987.

Biography of Nathalie Du Pasquier

Nathalie Du Pasquier was born in 1957 in Bordeaux, France. Her artistic journey was deeply influenced by her parents, with her mother, an art historian, instilling in her an appreciation for classic art. The years from 1975 to 1977 were transformative for Du Pasquier as she traveled through Gabon and West Africa.

Finally, in 1979, she moved to Milan. There, fate brought Nathalie Du Pasquier together with the designer George Sowden. In 1981, both of them received a remarkable invitation from designer and architect Ettore Sottsass to become two of the founding members of the revolutionary Memphis Group. For six influential years, Nathalie Du Pasquier dedicated her talents as a designer within the Memphis Group, crafting patterns, textiles, decorated surfaces, and furniture until 1987, when painting became her main activity. After this, Du Pasquier shifted her focus to work on her solo career.

Du Pasquier's works have been exhibited in various solo and group shows worldwide. Some of her solo exhibitions include Quadri Mobili e Immobili at Apalazzo Gallery in Brescia, Italy (2016); Other Rooms at Camden Arts Centre in London, UK (2017); Fair Game at the International Centre of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia (2018); Online at Pace Gallery (2020); and Twice in Dublin at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, Ireland (2022), among others.  

Currently, Nathalie Du Pasquier lives and works in Milan, Italy. 

Nathalie Du Pasquier's Art Style

Du Pasquier has remained captivated by the intricate connection between objects and their surrounding spaces. This enduring exploration has materialized through various mediums, including paintings, sculptures, designs, patterns, constructions, carpets, books, and ceramics. Constantly treading the line between the representational and non-representational, the tangible and intangible, reality and imagination, and two- and three-dimensional forms, her work embodies a fascinating interplay of diverse elements.

As a versatile and expanded painter, Du Pasquier fearlessly explores various formats, embracing new possibilities and continuous experimentation. She skillfully engages in complex arrangements of forms, playing with the interplay of dimensions. Currently, Du Pasquier works directly on paper or canvas and creates constructions that cleverly juxtapose flat surfaces with three-dimensional objects. Her paintings transcend their traditional boundaries and can exist as objects, spaces, or environments, blurring the lines between the artwork and the inherent structures of its display.

Drawing inspiration from the language of classicism, Nathalie Du Pasquier's paintings skillfully weave together simplified still-life compositions, architectural plans, industrial drawings, and whimsical snippets of text. Boldly simplified blocks of color add depth and vibrancy to her creations. Continually exploring new objects, Du Pasquier enriches her imaginary and symbolic world, following poetic paths to construct and compose forms, sculpt space, and reimagine representation. Moreover, she fearlessly employs her own archive as raw material, molding it into fresh and captivating artistic expressions.