OLYMPE RACANA-WEILER
TRAFFICARTS
OLYMPE RACANA-WEILER
Olympe in her Montreuil Studio 2025 © Emma Picq
Sharing Tears with You, 2026 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 198 cm (102 x 78 in)
Olympe Racana-Weiler (b. 1990) is a French-Argentine artist who lives in Paris and works in Montreuil. She graduated in 2014 with a degree in Visual Art and Art Theory from Université Paris 1 PanthéonSorbonne. Racana-Weiler’s practice is rooted in an intensely physical approach to painting. Her richly layered compositions move between abstraction and figuration, bringing together color, gesture, texture, and recurring forms in works that develop through a process of accumulation and transformation. Her background in dance has been an important influence, giving her a heightened sensitivity to space, light, and movement. The gesture of the body becomes integral to the act of painting, lending her work a sense of rhythm, spontaneity, and continual motion. Her approach to painting is also deeply informed by her engagement with traditional printmaking and artisanal techniques. Racana-Weiler first trained in lithography at Michael Woolworth’s studio, specializing in etching. After training alongside American artist Jim Dine, she spent several years developing her woodcut technique at the Steindruck Printing Studio in Austria, where she was mentored by master printers Christoph Chavanne and Gabi Pechmann. She also worked in ceramics at the Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres and in bronze at the Blue Mountain Fine Art Foundry in the United States. This commitment to craftsmanship has continued throughout her career. She has produced monumental woodcuts at Steindruck; engravings combining woodcut, silkscreen monotype, and carborundum at Gate 44 in Milan; and bronze sculpture at Kunstgiesserei St. Gallen in Switzerland. Her first artist’s book, L’Amour, was included in CHAGALL, MATISSE, MIRÓ – Made in Paris, an exhibition devoted to the tradition of the artist’s book at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany. Since 2013, Racana-Weiler has exhibited internationally. In 2018, she received both the Antoine Marin Prize and the Pierre Cardin Prize for Painting from the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Solo exhibitions have included I Came Back from Paradise and I’m Frankly Hungry at Galerie Jérôme Pauchant; NEON DRIVING and Something About Silence at Galerie Éric Dupont in Paris; Behind the Eyes, her first solo exhibition in Asia, at Cuturi Gallery in Singapore; and Romance with a Bird at 21 Contemporary in Nice. In 2021, art critic and curator Numa Hambursin invited Racana-Weiler to create her first permanent installation, Le Chant de la Sibylle, for the Hôtel Richer de Belleval, home of the GGL Helenis Foundation in Montpellier. Extending her painting into the surrounding architecture, color and gesture unfold across the walls and ceiling of the first-floor boudoir. In 2023, art critic and curator Richard Leydier presented Journal, a solo exhibition at the GGL Foundation bringing together her paintings, engravings, and drawings. Her recent activity includes a 2026 solo exhibition, curated by Evelyne Artaud and Bruno Bernard, at La Fabrique, Centre d’Art in Montreuil, as well as participation in the 2026 Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair at Powerhouse Arts in New York. Racana-Weiler’s work is held in collections, foundations, museums, and universities across Europe, Asia, and the United States. Her work has been reviewed in ArtPress, Télérama, Artforum, Numéro, and Le Journal du Dimanche.
Visage Tranquille, Bleu, 2026 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 198 cm (102 x 78 in)
Your Beautiful Face in the Light, 2026 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 198 cm (102 x 78 in)
Whistling Black Chalk 4, 2025 Black stone on prepared linen canvas 218.5 x 239 cm (86 x 94 in)
Jardin d’Hiver, Profile, 2026 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 19 cm (102 x 78 in)
Whistling Black Chalk 11, 2025 Black stone on prepared linen canvas 218.5 x 239 cm (86 x 94 in)
White Rose, 2025 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 198 cm (102 x 78 in)
Hand, The White Tree, Your Face, 2026 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 259 x 198 cm (102 x 78 in)
Whistling Black Chalk 1, 2025 Black stone on prepared linen canvas 139.5 x 109 cm (55 x 43 in)
Whistling Black Chalk 7, 2025 Black stone on prepared linen canvas 139.5 x 109 cm (55 x 43 in)
Whistling Black Chalk 15, 2025 Black stone on prepared linen canvas 299.5 x 198 cm (118 x 78 in)
Face Song, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 242.5 x 220 cm (95.5 x 86.5 in)
Toro 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 240 x 220 cm (94.5 x 86.5 in)
Left and right: Olympe’s studio, Montreuil, courtesy of the artist.
Le Soleil et la Guerre, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 300 x 200 cm (118 x 79 in)
Babylon, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 199 x 400 cm (118 x 78 in)
Blue Bark, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 140 x 110 cm (55 x 43.5 in)
Black Lip 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 140 x 110 cm (55 x 43.5 in)
White Hand, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 200 x 200 cm (79 x 79 in)
Oeil Noir 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 200 x 200 cm (79 x 79 in)
Paupiére Bleu, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 300 x 160 cm (118 x 63 in)
Pink Room, 2024 Mixed media on prepared linen canvas 300 x 160 cm (118 x 63 in)
PRINTMAKING For Olympe Racana-Weiler, printmaking is not separate from painting but an extension of it. Her works move beyond the traditional boundaries of woodcut, lithography, and engraving. She uses the printing process with the freedom and physicality of a painter, building layers of colour, texture, gesture, and material until the resulting works feel almost like printed paintings. In some cases, she paints directly onto the printed surface, further dissolving the distinction between the two mediums. Each impression becomes a work in its own right rather than simply one example from an edition. Racana-Weiler trained in lithography and etching at Michael Woolworth’s studio in Paris. Working alongside the American artist Jim Dine, she later spent several years developing her woodcut technique at the Steindruck printing studio in Austria, where she was mentored by master printers Christoph Chavanne and Gabi Pechmann. Her exploration of materials has also led her to work in ceramics at the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres and in bronze at the Blue Mountain Fine Art foundry in the United States. Olympe continues to collaborate closely with exceptional artisans and master printers. At Steindruck, she has created a series of monumental woodcuts; at Gate 44 in Milan, she has produced engravings combining woodcut, silkscreen, monotype, and carborundum. Her first artist’s book, L’Amour, was included in Chagall, Matisse, Miró— Made in Paris, the major exhibition devoted to the tradition of the artist’s book at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany.
Olympe at Studio Apetlon, courtesy of the artist
100 Lines - 1, 2019 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 2, 2019 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 4, 2019 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 5, 2019 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Mono print
100 Lines - 6, 2019 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 7, 2021 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 9, 2021 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 10, 2021 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 11, 2021 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 12, 2022 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 13, 2022 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 14, 2022 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 15, 2023 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited edition of 3
100 Lines - 16, 2023 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited edition of 3
“I have practiced woodcut printing since childhood, in an attempt to understand where the form born of the painterly gesture begins and ends. Engraving is a transcription of that gesture. The gesture, the trace, takes place in an instant, like a sound. Translating it into printmaking is a lengthy process: a painstaking study of that instant—the phenomenon, or phenomena, of matter under the force of my intention. Wood has an identity of its own; more than a mere grain or texture, it has its own design. After completing my studies, I sought to learn the art of printing, which I pursued for a year at Michael Woolworth’s Paris workshop, where I assisted printers and artists. I became fascinated by the combination of different matrices to construct a multicoloured image. Intervening in and correcting the image after each passage through the press allowed me to understand printmaking as a medium in its own right, rather than simply as a means of producing an edition or reproduction. Since that experience, I have made my prints with different master printers around the world, each bringing their own specific expertise and savoir-faire.
Olympe working on 100 LINES, courtesy of the artist
With printers Gabi Pechmann and Christoph Chavanne, I create woodcuts on a very large scale. Their particular approach involves printing on a press more commonly used for marquetry work. I first began visiting their workshop in Apetlon, Austria, in 2016. Since then, they have welcomed me there two to three times a year. I carve my woodblocks in France and have them delivered to the workshop. I stay for around five days, working intensively with them on the production of the editions. Since 2019, I have been developing a body of work that now comprises 20 images, each measuring 250 x 153 cm, centred on the oval of the face and its mysteries, as an impossible portrait. I begin by drawing my image directly onto the wood. It is often a kind of monolith, which nonetheless suggests a point of view, a sense of humanity.” Olympe Racana-Weiler, 100 LINES
100 Lines - 19, 2024 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
100 Lines - 20, 2024 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
BIOGRAPHY 2014 Degree in Visual Arts and Art Sciences: Centre Saint-Charles, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2026 OLYMPE RACANA-WEILER, curated by Evelyne Artaud and Bruno Bernard. La Fabrique, Centre d’Art, Montreuil, (FR) 2023 JOURNAL, curated by Richard Leydier, Hôtel Richier de Belleval, GGL Foundation, Montpellier (FR) ON AIR, Olympe Racana-Weiler, curated by Glen Lasio, Gate 44, Milan (IT) 2022 ROMANCE WITH A BIRD, Galerie 21 Contemporary, Nice (FR) 2021 BEHIND THE EYES, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore (SG) SOMETHING ABOUT SILENCE, Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris (FR) 2019 NEON DRIVING, Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris (FR) 2018 I CAME BACK FROM PARADISE AND I’M FRANKLY HUNGRY, Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, Paris (FR) GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2026 BROOKLYN FINE ART PRINT FAIR, Line Press Limited stand, Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn (US) 2025 PARIS DANUBE, Print Salon, stand Gate 44, Hôtel du Danube, Paris (FR) BOOK ART, Contemporary & Historic Artist Books, curated by Ruth Lingen and Marilyn Waligore, SP/N Gallery, University of Texas at Dallas (US) BROOKLYN FINE ART PRINT FAIR, Line Press Limited stand, Powerhouse Arts, Brooklyn (US) 2023 CHAGALL, MATISSE, MIRÓ – Made in Paris, curated by Tobias Burg, Folkwang Museum, Essen (DE) REFLECTIONS, curated by Paulo Iverno, Galerie MR23-MARAIS, Paris (FR) 2022 PRENEZ GARDE À LA PEINTURE, Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris (FR) VEINES D’OPALE, curated by Paulo Iverno, Anaïs Madani and Alicia Mineaud, Espace Voltaire, Paris (FR) OSEZ MONTREUIL, curated by Evelyne Artaud and Bruno Brenard, La Fabrique Centre d’Art, Montreuil (FR) MATIÈRE DE LA PENSÉE, DOMAINE DE L’IMAGINAIRE, curated by Isabelle Suret, Le 7.5, Paris (FR) 2021 ALEPH, Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris (FR) ARTPARIS, Galerie Éric Dupont stand, Grand Palais Éphémère, Paris (FR) 2020 DANS LA TÊTE C’EST MEXICO, Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris (FR) IN FULL BLOOM, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore (SG) ARTPARIS, Galerie Éric Dupont stand, Grand Palais, Paris (FR) 2019 GALERISTES, Galerie Éric Dupont stand, Le Carreau du Temple, Paris (FR) ACCROCHAGE D’ÉTÉ, Galerie Éric Dupont, Paris (FR) ART BRUSSELS, Galerie Éric Dupont stand, Brussels (BE) AWARDS 2018
Awarded the Pierre Cardin Prize for painting, Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France Awarded the 22nd Antoine Marin Prize for painting
PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS AND COLLECTIONS LE CHANT DE LA SIBYLLE, curated by Numa Hambursin, Hôtel Richier de Belleval, GGL Foundation, Montpellier (FR)
THE KB, National Library of the Netherlands, The Hague (NL) THE CLARK, UCLA, William Andrew Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles (US) THE FOLKWANG MUSEUM, Essen (DE) COLLECTION OF GROUPE EMERIGE, Paris (FR) COLLECTION OF FONDATION D’ENTREPRISE GGL, Montpellier (FR)
COLLABORATIONS 2015-2025 JIM DINE STUDIO, production of sculptures (plaster, wood, stoneware, bronze, and patina) at Manufacture de Sèvres, Paris (FR); Blue Mountain Foundry, Baker City (US); and Kunstgiesserei, Saint-Gallen (CH); woodcut prints and murals for Chazen Museum of Art, Madison (US), Centre Pompidou, Paris (FR), l’Accademia Nazionale Di San Luca, Rome (IT), Kunsthaus, Göttingen (DE), and the Ground Seesaw Seochon, Seoul (KOR) 2014-2015
MICHAEL WOOLWORTH PUBLICATIONS, printmaker assistant to master printer Michael Woolworth and printers Julien Torhy and Marc Moyano, Paris (FR)
RESIDENCIES / WORKSHOPS 2025-2016 2024 2023 2021 2019 2018
STEINDRUCK CHAVANNE PECHMANN, production notably of the series of 20 monumental prints 100 LINES (250 x 153 cm, 3 copies each), from 15 wood blocks requiring up to 20 press runs, printed by master printers Christoph Cha vanne and Gabi Pechmann, Apetlon (AT) ATELIER RENÉ TAZÉ, production of the series of 22 prints SOOT FACE / TENDER WALL (55 x 42 cm, 3 copies; 105 x 201 cm, 2 unique copies), from 12 copper plates combining drypoint, aquatint, soft ground, and requiring up to 5 press runs, printed by master printers Domitille Arai and Bérengère Lipeau, Paris (FR) GATE 44, production of 40 prints LA FEMME SANS OMBRE (ranging from 280 x 130 cm to 150 x 120 cm, 6 copies or unique proofs), from 4 woodblocks, carborundum, and screenprint, with up to 7 press runs, printed by master printer Glen Lasio and printer Nicolas Muratore, Milan (IT) KUNSTGIESSEREI, production of the bronze sculpture WHISPERS AND HARVEST (250 x 212 x 120 cm, private collection), and apprenticeship in wax modeling, chasing, and patina techniques, Saint-Gallen (CH) LINE PRESS LIMITED, production of the artist’s book L’AMOUR (33.8 x 27.6 x 1.5 cm, 23 copies, 96 pages), combining digital printing of a typescript facsimile from French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s lecture L’amour (Les Non-Dupes Errent, 1973), with 28 woodcuts printed on 7 varieties of handmade papers, by master printers Ruth Lingen and Nina Dine, Brooklyn (US) FONDATION DU DOMAINE OTETELISANU, residency of Les Amis de Paraschiv, 4th edition, Benesti (RO)
PRESS 2023 2023 2023 2022 2022 2021 2021 2021 2020 2020 2019 2018
POINT DE VUE, “Olympe Racana-Weiler – La Fureur de Peindre” by Isabelle Lortholary, n°3914, August 2023 FRANCE 3 RÉGIONS, “The Franco-Argentinian artist Olympe Racana-Weiler unveils her colorful and joyful world in Montpellier” by Jean-Philippe Faure, MIDI LIBRE, “Flipping through Olympe’s ‘Journal’” by Jérémy Bernède, April ART INTERVIEW, “Olympe Racana-Weiler” by Harry Kampianne, April 2023 ARTPRESS, “Introduction – Olympe Racana-Weiler” by Richard Leydier, n°496, BORDERLINES PAPER, “Something about Silence – Olympe Racana-Weiler in her Studio”, photo by Emma Picq, Atomic Issue #2, January 2022 ARTPRESS, “Montpellier, GGL Helenis Foundation” by Richard Leydier, n°492, NUMERO.COM, “In Montpellier, exceptional artworks take over a luxury hotel” by Matthieu Jacquet, July 2021 LE JOURNAL DU DIMANCHE, “Plaisir Art” by Bruna Basini, n°3890, Sunday, LE FIGARO, “In Montpellier, Hôtel Richer de Belleval dresses in five contemporary creations” by François Delétraz, July 2021 TÉLÉRAMA HORS-SÉRIE, “A history of contemporary French painting” by Olivier Cena BEAU MONSTRE, “Olympe Racana-Weiler”, photo by Emmanuelle Mafille, Private Party Issue #3, January 2020 TÉLÉRAMA, “Olivier Cena’s column”, n°3605, February 2019 LE QUOTIDIEN DE L’ART, “Olympe Racana-Weiler – Like a sundial”, Seen in gallery by Juliette Soulez, n°1654, February 2019 BOUMBANG, “Olympe Racana-Weiler – All the other suns were dead” by Clare Mary Puyfoulhoux, May 2018 ARTFORUM INTERNATIONAL, “Olympe Racana-Weiler, Galerie Jérôme Pauchant”, review by Lillian Davies, May 2018
100 Lines - 21, 2024 Woodcut on 400 gsm DW paper, hand-painted by the artist 250 x 153 cm (98.5 x 60 in) Limited editon of 3
OLYMPE RACANA-WEILER REPRESENTED BY
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Olympe in her studio, 2024 © Bertrand Huet Back cover image detail of lithograph 100 Lines 19, 2024
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