Marie André

Throughout her videotapes, which merge and transcend genres such as narrative fiction, portrait, documentary, and performance, Belgian artist Marie André is engaged in the subtle act of observation. In elegant works that emphasize the significance of the quotidian, the everyday gesture, and the intimate detail, André suggests a personal dialogue between the artist and her predominantly female subjects.

Employing thematic and formal strategies that are often cinematic, André brings the intimacy of scale and observed detail that is unique to video to her eloquent portraits of the everyday. André's singular mode of vision is both precise and sensual. Her distanced camera, reductive editing, and spare mise en scene create formal compositions that suggest framed paintings, while her impassive gaze and visual acuity reveal the private space and psychological nuances of the women on the screen.

In document or fiction, from the dance of Répétitions (1985) to the social critique of Un ange passe (1985), André observes narratives of desire, romances of the everyday. With minimal but lush images that distill the very essence of her subjects, André's works establish a rich, intimate sense of time, mood and place.

Marie André was born in Brussels in 1951. After studying theater at the Institut National Superior des Arts du Spectacle in Brussels, she attended the Byrd Hoffman Foundation workshop's in New York in 1974. She began working in 35mm film after studying screenwriting at an American Film Institute program in Brussels, and later turned to video. She has created video works with German composer Mauricio Kagel and with Belgo/Mexican choreographer José Besprosvany. She has also made radio pieces which have aired on national European radio channels.

Winner of the Grand Prix from the Festival International d'Art Vidéo de Locarno, she is also the recipient of awards from the Festival of San Sebastian, Spain, and the Minister of French Culture in Brussels. Her videotapes have been broadcast widely in Europe and exhibited internationally at festivals and institutions including the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; the Center Beaubourg, Paris; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Long Beach Museum of Art, California; World Wide Video Festival, The Hague; and the International Festival of Video Art, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. Since 2005, she has been a professor at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels.