61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia - In Minor Keys by Koyo Kouoh
Saturday 9 May to Sunday 22 November 2026
Venice, Arsenale and Giardini
Invited by Koyo Kouoh, Manuel Mathieu’s work engages with historical violence, erasure, and cultural approaches to physicality, nature, and spiritual heritage, strongly resonating with the In Minor Key curatorial theme. Marking a major milestone in his career, he will make his debut at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, with new and existing works
“What resonated with me in Koyo Kouoh’s vision was her trust in our fragility. She believed that art does not need to scream in order to move us. The language of the soul is the whisper. Coming from a place with a history marked by continuous erasure, the most precious parts of our survival reside in our intimacy. This Biennale is a place where those quiet forms of resistance can finally be heard. Thought leaders like Koyo Kouoh guide us by reminding us that the perpetuation of dominant narratives produces a homogeneity, one that dulls our empathy and weakens our capacity to truly relate to others,” Manuel Mathieu, artist, says
Looking ahead, 2026 will be a significant year for the artist. Alongside the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Mathieu will participate in international group and solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, and Montréal, affirming his presence on the global contemporary art scene.
About Manuel Mathieu
Informed by his upbringing in Haiti following the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship and his subsequent emigration to Canada at the age of 19, Manuel Mathieu’s art delves into the shared struggles and connections that unite us across national borders. In an age overwhelmed by information, where images and data proliferate faster than comprehension, his work insists on slowness and distance. It asks the viewer to step back, to recognize patterns across time, and to confront the ways history repeats itself under different names
These personal experiences deeply inform his multidisciplinary artistic language. Each medium carries its own expressive weight: paintings blend abstraction and figuration; sculptures form immersive installations with film; olfactory art introduces a spiritual dimension, shaping both the duration of the experience and the emotional resonance for viewers. His work further extends to ceramic ensembles, largescale mosaics, and poetry, each piece offering a distinct avenue to explore the interplay between personal memory and collective history. At the Biennale Arte 2026, Mathieu will bring together this full spectrum of forms, presenting a selection of works that reflects the depth and diversity of his practice.
The friction between past and present, personal and political, is a recurring theme for the artist. He addresses Haiti’s complex history, offering a laboratory in which to envision the bridges shaping our empathy. His approach often involves a phenomenological encounter where amorphous subjects vacillate and dissolve into boundless landscapes, encouraging viewers to re-imagine the limits of their own minds. Mathieu is on a quest to materialise the fragility of forms and the poetry in our disappearance which is inherent to our existence
Manuel Mathieu is a leading figure in contemporary art on the global stage and is the first Haitian-Canadian artist to have his work acquired by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Beyond his artistic practice and international exhibitions, Mathieu is deeply committed to creating structural change within the cultural field. His work and initiatives aim to create opportunities for underrepresented voices and to bring visibility to histories that have long remained in the shadows. In collaboration with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, he created the Marie-Solanges Apollon Fund for the acquisition of works by artists underrepresented in its collection. The artist has since funded a new program at AWARE (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions), also in his grandmother’s name. The program aims to encourage research on the practices of artists in the Black Atlantic and the Global South. Mathieu is the executive producer of The Fight for Haiti, a documentary highlighting Haitian activists’ struggle against corruption and impunity
His recent projects reflect an expansion toward large-scale, multisensory installations that blur the boundaries between visual, spatial, and sensory experience. These include Le Mont habité (2025), a permanent public commission of five monumental mosaics for Montréal’s Réseau express métropolitain (REM), and an immersive installation version of Pendulum presented at the Toronto Biennial of Art in 2024. Additionally, he opened five shows in 2025 at HdM (Beijing), Pilar Corrias (London), at PHI (Montreal), at MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina), and at the Saint Louis Art Museum. In 2026, Mathieu will unveil a new body of work at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau in Montréal, followed by his first solo exhibition with Galerie Poggi in Paris.
MANUEL MATHIEU
(n /b 1986 Haïti; v /l Canada)
FORMATION / TRAINING
2016 Goldsmiths, University of London, Masters in Fine Arts
2010 Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Baccalauréat en arts visuels et médiatiques
EXPOSITIONS PERSONNELLES / SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Perineum, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montréal, Canada
2025 Unité dans la noirceur/Unity In Darkness, PHI, Montréal, Canada
Bury Your Masters, Pilar Corrias, London, UK
Manuel Mathieu: Pendulum, Saint Louis Art Museum, USA
Liberations : a film program by Manuel Mathieu, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Canada
Unconscious Dreams, HDM Gallery, Beijing, China
2024 Dwelling on the Invisible, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, USA
World Discovered Under Other Skies, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, USA
The End of Figuration, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea, UK
2023 Rising From the Ashes, K11 Art Foundation, en tour née / touring : K11 (Shanghai), K11 (Wuhan), K11 (Shenyang), China
World Discovered Under Other Skies, Owens Art Gallery, Sackville, Canada
2022 Dear mélancolie, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montréal, Canada
Keeping Things Whole, Pilar Corrias, London, UK
Silk Road Traveler, Lethe’s Wanderer, Fondation Longlati, Shanghai, China
World Discovered Under Other Skies, en tour née / touring: ICA Plug In (W innipeg), Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), Art Gallery of W indsor (W indsor), Canada
2021 Son of Voodoo, HdM Gallery, Beijing, China
Build W ithin You, Matthew Brown, Los Angeles, USA
Negroland: A Landscape of Desires, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, USA
2020 World Discovered Under Other Skies, The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada
Survivance, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Manuel Mathieu : La beauté et l’amour comme habitude, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montréal, Canada
Chavire chodyè a, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgique
2019 Wu ji, HDM Gallery, Beijing, China
2018 The Spell on You, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgique
Nobody is Watching, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, USA
Solo booth, Ar mory Show NY, Tiwani Contemporary Gallery, New York, USA
2017 Truth to Power, Tiwani Contemporary Gallery, London, UK
Art Brussels, Maruani Mercier, Brussels, Belgique
2016 One future, Goldsmiths Graduating show, London, UK
2015 49/50, Fig 2, Curated by Fatos Üstek, Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK
2013 The Birth of Nature, Les Territoires, Montréal, Canada
2012 PRÉMICES/OPEN ENDED, MAI, Montréal, Canada
EXPOSITIONS COLLECTIVES / GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 in relation to stillness, Peter Blum Gallery, New York, USA
Anniversaire de l’Art, Galerie Poggi, Paris, France
2025 Seoul Mediacity Biennale, South Korea
The Abstract Future, Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Time Isn’t Real, Art Gallery of Burlington, USA
Abstraction(Re)Creation - 20 Under 40, X Museum, Beijing, China
2024
Launching A New Era, Yuan ART MUSEUM, Beijing, China
Toronto Biennial of Art: Precarious Joys, TPW Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Abstraction (re)creation, Consortium Museum, Dijon, France
Soft Power, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus, Potsdam, Allemagne/Ger many Ré-enchantement, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Les doigts dans la terre, les yeux vers le ciel, Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Montréal, Canada
2023
Opening Exhibition: Chin Chin, Gallery daSein, Shenzhen, China
Riopelle, à la croisée des temps, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Ottawa, Canada
SHIFT: Ecologies of Fashion, For m + Textile, Griffin Art Projects, Vancouver, Canada
Julien Creuzet : Oh téléphone, oracle noir (...), Le Magasin Centre national d’art contemporain, Grenoble, France
Elsewheres, UTA Artist Space, Los Angeles, USA
A voice answering a voice, Tanya Leighton Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Hervé Télémaque: Double Language, digital program, Serpentine, London, UK
2022 Body Language, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, USA
Fellbach Triennial, Fellbach, Allemagne
2021 Fragments of Epic Memory, AGO - Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
Social Works II, Gagosian, London, UK
In the Eye of the Stor m, Z33 House for Contemporary Art and Architecture, Hasselt, Belgique
North by Northeast : Contemporary Canadian Painting, Kasmin, New York, USA
La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada
2020 WÄNDE / WALLS, Kunstmuseum, Stuttgart, Allemagne
Relations: Diaspora and Painting, Fondation Phi, Montréal, Canada
Sargent’s Daughters, New York City, USA
2020, Song Art Museum, Beijing, China
2019 The other side of now, Perez Art Museum Miami, Miami USA
Arco Madrid, Maruani Mercier, Madrid, Espagne
Over my Black Body, Galerie de l’UQÀM, Montréal, Canada
2018 CIRCA 2018 benefit exhibition, Montréal, Canada
Playlist, Antoine Ertaskiran, Montréal, Canada
Here we are here: Black contemporary Canadian artist, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Canada
2017 Art Basel, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Miami, USA
1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Tiwani Contemporary, Marrakech, Maroc
We are all very anxious, Dye House 451, London, UK
Foire Papier, Galerie Division, Montréal, Canada
In-visibilité Ostentatoire, Fondation Clement, Martinique
2016 Deptford X Festival, London UK (commissioned work)
W ill Nature Make a Man of Me Yet? PI Artworks, London, UK
Myth Material, TAP, London, UK
2014 Haïti, 2 centuries of creations, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Consisting of superposed Layers that sometimes partially merged, POPOP Gallery, Montréal, Canada
Les Contemporains, Artv Studio, Montréal, Canada
Les Contemporains, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada
Les Ateliers TD, ARSENAL, Montréal, Canada
2013 In Extremis: Death and Life in 21st Century Haitian Art, Musée de la civilization de Québec, Québec, Canada
On Common Ground, Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, D.C., USA
Haïti: Radical and contemporary, Grande Finale - 2013 A R T Fabric, Freland, France
2012 Haïti: Radical and contemporary, Musée de Montpar nasse, Paris, France
ART PUBLIC / PUBLIC ART
2025 Le Mont habité, Réseau express métropolitain (REM), Station Édouard Montpetit, Montréal, Canada
Traverser un tunnel en ayant la tête dans les nuages, Galerie de l’Université de Montréal, Canada
DISTINCTIONS / AWARDS
2025 Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec
2024 King Charles III’s Coronation Medal
2023 Best Short Film Prize, The Inter national Festival of Films on Art
2020 Sobey Art Award (finaliste)
2015 Fig-2 ICA London Student Open Call
RÉSIDENCES D'ARTISTE ET BOURSE D’ÉTUDES / ARTISTIC RESIDENCIES AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2022 Art Explora, Paris, France
2021 Joyner/Giuffrida residency, Sonoma, USA
2019 Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Allemagne
Joyner/Giuffrida residency, Sonoma, USA
2014 Caribbean Linked 3 Residency, Aruba
2012 Programme de mentorat de MAI (Montréal, arts interculturel), Montréal, Canada
CONFÉRENCES / LECTURES
Royal College of Art, London, UK
The Department of Art & Art History at the University of Mississippi, USA University of Victoria, Canada
University of Guelph, Canada Concordia University, Canada
Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Canada
UQÀM, Canada
Akademie Schloss solitude, Ger many
SÉLECTION D’ARTICLES ET DE REPORTAGES / SELECTED PRESS AND COVERAGE
2026 Sonali Kar nick, « A conversation with artist Manuel Mathieu about impact, legacy and love », All in a Weekend, CBC Listen, January 3 2026, https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-78-all-in-a-weekend/clip/16190021-a-conversation-artist-manuel-mathi eu-impact-legacy-love
2025 TV5 Monde, « "Le mont habité" : À Montréal, une station de métro transfor mée en galerie d’art», 7 décembre 2025 https://www youtube com/watch?v=efvHzlkpR2s
CBC News, « The artist behind a new, massive, underground mosaic », CBC Radio, November 29 2025, https://www cbc ca/player/play/audio/9 6996254
Éric Clément, « Dans la station Édouard-Montpetit du REM : Descendre dans l’univers de Manuel Mathieu», La Presse, 18 novembre 2025
https://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/12287ecf-805d-46e0-b8b6-10baab60c67c 7C 0.html?utm content=ulin k&utm source=lpp&utm medium=referral&utm campaign=inter nal+share
Marie-Hélène Poitras, « Réenchanter la ville », Le Devoir, 18 novembre 2025
https://www ledevoir com/opinion/chroniques/934575/reenchanter-ville?
Frédérique de Simone, « Qui est Manuel Mathieu, l’artiste montréalais derrière les mosaïques de la station Édouard-Montpetit du REM »,TVA Nouvelles, 18 novembre 2025
https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2025/11/17/qui-est-manuel-mathieu-lartiste-montrealais-derriere-les-mo saiques-de-la-station-edouard-montpetit-du-rem
Amélie Revert, « “Unité dans la noirceur” : dans l’antre de Manuel Mathieu », Le Devoir, 23 octobre 2025
https://www ledevoir com/culture/arts-visuels/927306/unite-noirceur-antre-manuel-mathieu
Jean Siag, « Les expérimentations de Manuel Mathieu », La Presse, 23 octobre 2025
https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/arts-visuels/2025-10-23/expos-a-phi/les-experimentations-de-manuel-mathieu.p hp
Éric Clément, « Dans l’atelier de Manuel Mathieu », La Presse, 6 septembre 2025
https://www lapresse ca/arts/arts-visuels/dans-l-atelier-de/manuel-mathieu/2025-09-06/l-artiste-elastique php
Stephanie Hirschmiller, “Why This Multi-Hyphenate Artist Is Adding Fragrance To His Oeuvre”, Forbes, April 27, 2025
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniehirschmiller/2025/04/27/why-this-multi-hyphenate-artist-is-adding-fra grance-to-his-oeuvre/
Annikka Olsen, “From Canvas to Cologne: An Artist’s Daring Debut into the World of Perfume”, Artnet, March 26, 2025
https://news artnet com/art-world/manuel-mathieu-perfume-2617179
2024 Éric Clément, « L’ascension américaine de Manuel Mathieu », La Presse, 6 juin 2024
https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/arts-visuels/2024-06-06/la-presse-a-miami/l-ascension-americaine-de-manuel-m athieu.php
Pierre-Antoine Louis, “Manuel Mathieu Finds His Way Through Haitian History, on Canvas”, New York Times, April 24, 2024, https://www nytimes com/2024/04/24/arts/design/manuel-mathieu-haiti html
Gameli Hamelo, “Rising Haitian Painter Manuel Mathieu Explores the Complex History of His Homeland”, Artsy, April 15, 2024, https://www artsy net/article/artsy-editorial-rising-haitian-painter-manuel-mathieuexplores-complex-history-homeland
CBC/Radio-Canada, “Dream W ithout a Ceiling: The Art of Manuel Mathieu”, 44 minutes, 2024
Ava Tur ner, “Manuel Mathieu: Spiritual Abstraction”, https://metalmagazine eu/en/post/manuel-mathieu-spiritual-abstraction 2023 Chloë Ashby, “On the rise: Manuel Mathieu”, Art Basel, April 1, 2023, https://www artbasel com/stories/on-the-rise-manuel-mathieu?lang=en Stéphane Leclerc, Les grands entretiens, Radio-Canada, 5 avril 2023, https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/ premiere/emissions/les-grands-entretiens/episodes/698319/rattrapage-du-mercredi-5-avril-2023
Éric Clément, « Manuel Mathieu remporte le prix du meilleur court métrage », La Presse, 23 mars 2023 https://www lapresse ca/cinema/2023-03-23/festival-inter national-du-film-sur-l-art/manuel-mathieu-remportele-prix-du-meilleur-court-metrage php 2022
Éric Clément, « Dans l’atelier parisien de Manuel Mathieu », La Presse, 21 janvier 2022 Collective, “12 Artists Poised to Break Out in 2022, Based on Our Survey of Top Dealers, Advisors, and Curators” Artnet News, January 2022
https://news.artnet.com/news-pro/artists-poised-to-break-out-in-2022-2052931
Mathilde Gauthier, « Manuel Mathieu, l’étoile montante de l’art contemporain, expose à W innipeg », Radio-Canada, ICI Manitoba, Janvier 2022
Annabel Downes, “Advisory Selections: Exhibition Highlights of 2022”, Ocula, January 2022 https://ocula com/advisory/perspectives/exhibition-highlights-of-2022/ 2021 Collective, “Social Works II: Manuel Mathieu the Delusion of Power”, Gagosian Quarterly, W inter 2021 https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2021/11/29/essay-social-works-ii-manuel-mathieu-delusion-power/
Tessa Moldan, “Manuel Mathieu: In Pursuit of Expansion », Ocula, June 2021 https://ocula com/magazine/insights/manuel-mathieu-in-pursuit-of-expansion/ Amy Sherald, “Profiles of Young Black Artists to Watch”, Art in America, May/June 2021
Connor Garel, “Manuel Mathieu’s Paintings of Trauma and Desire, Art in America, May 2021, https://www artnews com/art-in-america/features/manuel-mathieu-new-talent-paintings-trauma-desire-1234592564/ James D. Campbell, “Manuel Mathieu’s Mour nful Abstractions”, Frieze, March 2021 https://www.frieze.com/article/manuel-mathieu-survivance-2021-review
Bryne McLaughlin, “Manuel Mathieu: The Power Plant”, Canadian Art, W inter 2021pp. 125-126 2020 K Taylor, “Montreal artist Manuel Mathieu looks at Haïti and sees the world”, The Globe and Mail, October 2
Nicole Servinis “Manuel Mathieu at The Power Plant”, CityTV, September 29: https://www bttoronto ca/videos/nicole-is-live-at-the-power-plant-contemporary-art-gallery-3-of-4/
C François, « Culture : Manuel Mathieu, peintre d'origine haïtienne, s ' expose à Montréal », TV5 Monde, 18 septembre, https://infor mation.tv5monde.com/video/culture-manuel-mathieu-peintre-d-origine-haitienne-sexpose-montreal
Caroline Montpetit, « Manuel Mathieu arrive au MBAM », Le Devoir, 16 septembre
Jean Siag, « Manuel Mathieu Vent de fraîcheur au Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal », La Presse, 16 septembre
Eugénie Lépine-Blondeau, « Survivance, de Manuel Mathieu, au MBAM », ICI Radio-Canada Première, Tout un matin, 16 septembre 2020,
https://ici radio-canada ca/premiere/emissions/tout-un-matin/episodes/480896/rattrapage-du-mercredi-16-s eptembre-2020/25
Anne-Lovely Étienne, « Première exposition solo à Montréal : Manuel Mathieu porte sa couleur », TVA Nouvelles, 16 septembre
Catherine Richer, « Exposition de Manuel Mathieu au MBAM », ICI Radio-Canada Première, Le 15-18, 15 septembre :
https://ici radio-canada ca/premiere/emissions/le-15-18/episodes/480770/rattrapage-du-mardi-15-septembr e-2020/16
Nabi-Alexandre Chartier, « Étoile montante de l’art contemporain », Le Téléjour nal, Radio-Canada Infor mation, 10 août, https://www.facebook.com/radiocanada.info/videos/une-étoile-montante-de-lart-contemporain/9609850243 74845/
2019 R yanna Jade, “We Are Rebellious Souls: Manuel Mathieu Imagines a Caribbean of the Future”, Frieze Online, (September 3)
2018 Emily Spencer, “‘Life experience sometimes forces you to see things that you wouldn’t otherwise have seen ’” Studio Inter national Elbaor, Caroline, “‘Review Nobody is watching” Flash Art Online
2017 Lisa Sproull, “Meet Montreal artist Manuel Mathieu” Cult Mtl Selections Magazine, http://www selectionsarts com/2017/04/art-brussels/
2016 Harriet Clugston, “Freedom Through Art: An Interview W ith Rising Art Star Manuel Mathieu” The culture trip Elbaor, Caroline “Why London Artist Manuel Mathieu is On His Way Up,” artnet News, news artnet com (September 19)
2015 Kozerek, Pippa. “Manuel Mathieu wins the fig-2 Student Open Call,” a-n.co.uk (September 17).
“Questions with Artists: Tiffany Barber talks to Manuel Mathieu,” StudioMuseum.org (February 4).
“New Narratives of Haiti,” Transition Magazine #111, Indiana University Press (February 20).
2014 Mathieu, M "Artist Statement " Callaloo, vol 37 no 4, 2014, pp 947-950 Crichlow, Michaeline, ed Cultural Dynamics Duke University Press (Cover )
PUBLICATIONS / CATALOGS
2023 Riopelle, à la croisée des temps, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Manuel Mathieu: Silk Road Traveler, Lethe’s Wanderer, Longlati Foundation, Pilar Corrias, HdM Gallery, Shanghai, China
2022 Manuel Mathieu: World Discovered Under Other Skies The Power Plant + le Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Toronto et Montréal, Canada
2020 Relations: Diaspora and Painting, Fondation Phi, Montréal, Canada
La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada
2018 Manuel Mathieu, Kavi Gupta, Chicago USA
The spell on you, Maruani Mercier, Brussels Belgium
No 1 Recueil, Manuel Mathieu, Montreal Canada
COLLECTIONS
Aishti Foundation, Lebanon
Beth DeWoody Collection, USA
Caisse de dépôt et de placement du Québec, Canada
Centre national des arts plastiques (Cnap), France
Claridge, Canada
Cloud CAC, China
Collection Desjardins, Canada
Collection Fonds Hamelys, Canada
Collection Majudia, Canada
Contemporary Gallery Kunming, China
HALL Collection, USA
Hydro Québec, Canada
Igal Ahouvi Collection, Israel
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, USA
JP Morgan, USA
KPMG, Canada
Longlati Foundation, China
Luokung Technology Corp , China
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Canada
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Canada
Musée de la civilisation de Québec, Canada
Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Canada
National Gallery of Canada, Canada
Norton Museum of Art, USA
RBC, Canada
Rubell’s Family Collection, USA
Start Museum, China
TD Bank Corporate Art Collection, Canada
Trixmedia Los Angeles, USA
Hort’s Family, USA
The Joyner/Giuffrida collection, USA
Jorge Perez, USA