Théo Mercier, mentored artist 2026

A leading figure in the French contemporary art scene, Théo Mercier has developed a practice at the intersection of sculpture, installation, and performance. Claiming formal freedom, Théo Mercier seeks to deconstruct the mechanisms of history, objects, and representations, from which he weaves together harmonious contradictions. Alternately explorer, collector, curator, and artist, he engages in a reflection situated at the crossroads of anthropology, geopolitics, tourism, and landscape.

As part of the 2026 edition of the Reiffers Initiatives mentoring program, the French artist is collaborating with Thomas Houseago. The result of their exchanges and this intergenerational dialogue will be a major joint exhibition set to open in October 2026 during Art Basel Paris.

Biography

Théo Mercier is a French sculptor and stage director. Born in Paris in 1984, he currently lives and works between Paris and Marseille (France).
Resident at Villa Medici in 2013 and nominated for the Marcel-Duchamp prize in 2014, Théo Mercier has also won the Silver Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale for Dance with Steven Michel, as well as the Jury Prize for the French Pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial in 2023 with Céline Peychet. In 2022, he was awarded Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture. He has had major solo exhibitions at the Mona (Tasmania), the Villa Medici (Roma), the Conciergerie de Paris, the Fondation Luma Westbau (Zurich), the Collection Lambert (Avignon), the Museo El Eco (Mexico), the Habana Biennial (Cuba), the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris), the [mac] Musée d’art contemporain (Marseille), the Lieu Unique (Nantes) and the Tri Postal (Lille).
His work has also been shown in numerous group shows, including at the Centre Pompidou (Paris, Shanghai), the Hamburger Banhof (Berlin), the Palacio Bellas Artes (Mexico) and Arts Jameel (Dubai). Shifting from the “white cube” to the “black box”, Mercier is also a stage director. His performances have been shown at Nanterre-Amandiers, the Festival d’Automne, the Ménagerie de verre and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Festival d’Avignon, Theater Spektakel (Zurich), Vidy (Lausanne), La Bâtie (Geneva), Teatros del Canal (Madrid), Usine C (Montreal), The Invisible dog Art Center (New York), the Festival Actoral (Marseille), the Vooroit Art Center (Ghent) or the Short Theater (Rome), among others.

Texts

Théo Mercier, mentored artist Reiffers Initiatives 2026

“What I'm interested in is the journey of objects: the first time I come across them, the transformations they undergo in the studio, and then their transition into other narratives. Between storing, collecting, displaying, and sculpting, their status is constantly evolving. The exhibition will highlight these shifts and explores how we assign value and meaning to things.”