As part of the refurbishment works of the Grande Epicerie de Paris Rive Gauche, the Bon Marché architects entrusted Mathilde Jonquière with the creation of 9 mosaic murals for the different spaces in the market square: the Fish, the Truffle, the Iberian, the Bakery, the Chocolate, the Pastry, theCheese, the Italian and the Luxury sections. The challenge was to link the spaces together by using a common motif: tracing circles made up of tone-on-tone colored tesserae that represented the products on display. The Fish section, spread over three pans, covers a surface of 20 sq. m. and forms a monumental mosaic. It is highlighted by the light reflecting on each of its 120 shimmering scales,laid out in opposite directions, thus symbolizing the movement of the sea.

Depuis plusieurs années, Mathilde Jonquière fait du béton son matériau de prédilection et révolutionne les canons de l’art de la mosaïque. Détournant les hiérarchies classiques, elle reformule avec détermination le rapport de valeur entre le mat et le brillant, le fade et le coloré, le vide et le plein, le pauvre et le riche.

Au commencement, la mosaïste s’intéresse à ce qui se passe entre les pierres. Elle investit l’intervalle, l’écart, cet entre-deux terne et déclassé. C’est dans cet espace-là que se pose son regard, c’est sur ce matériau qu’intervient sa main : le ciment-joint, mortier prolétaire qui liait entre eux les éléments de la composition, prend alors du volume et gagne de la surface pour devenir un agent de la composition — exactement comme la réserve de la toile joue avec la peinture. A présent, converti en béton, l’interstice occupe le terrain, il entre dans la lumière.

Dès lors, Mathilde Jonquière travaille à subvertir l’usage du béton : elle lui accorde non plus un rôle fonctionnel — socle, support, plateau — mais réaffirme sa nature vivante, multiple, s’attache à en faire une liberté.

Saisi comme un matériau en soi, il s’anime, se déploie, joue de sa plastique, s’arrondit ou fait feu de toute pierre : il inspire, il perle. Loin de s’en tenir à y enchâsser les mosaïques précieuses, la mosaïste étire ses capacités et le pousse jusqu’au bout, dans de grands formats qui sont autant de défis artistiques. Le béton est tour à tour écrin velouté, médaillon de ciel nocturne, étang de l’orpailleur, galaxie-miroir. Il ruisselle comme la pluie le long d’une vitre, bouge comme un tissu dans le vent, éblouit comme le coquillage ramassé au fond de la mer. Accueille aussi bien le cinéma que la photographie, les tissages traditionnels, l’abstraction, la peinture aborigène, les bijoux, trace les constellations célestes.

Les mosaïques de Mathilde Jonquière troublent et déplacent les codes, et finalement à travers elles, c’est aussi l’art de la mosaïque lui-même qui s’émancipe de ses affectations premières — décorer, orner, embellir — pour défricher toujours plus avant un nouveau territoire de création, un domaine à soi. Pionnière, Mathilde Jonquière inscrit la poésie dans ce conglomérat de sable et de gravier, elle enchante le béton. Il est grand temps de fêter ses œuvres.

Maylis de Kerangal

The Wepler brasserie, first oyster café in Paris, is a famous address. Located at the foot of the Butte Montmatre, in the 18th arrondissement, it sits at the intersection of four quartiers.

Truly a Parisian institution of the rive droite, the brasserie has moved with the times, and managed to forge a cultural history. It’s a meeting point for the new generation of cinematographers, a place to dine after a night at the theatre or at a concert, and it also hosts the Prix-Wepler –  La Poste, an award that celebrates the best book authors of the year.

It’s a wonderfully festive space, to share everything from ideas to a meal, and I chose to symbolise this with bubbles of Champagne composed of gleaming golden tesserae that cover the walls, which are held back by the waves in the lower part of the composition. Fish scales in molten glass, ceramic create a movement, an effervescence much like the reflection of a social gathering.

During the refurbishment of the Aiglon Hotel, situated in the heart of Montparnasse, the interior designer Cybèle Paluel Marmont commissioned a mosaic mural for the facade of the art deco building as well as the creation of 42 bespoke mosaics for the hotel’s 42 bathrooms. The first ten mosaics were figurative drawings inspired by the theme of the Herbes Folles from the 1930s.Each blade of grass is incrusted with tesserae that highlight the movement of the wind blowing through the leaves echoing the trees that surround the hotel on the boulevard. The last drawings were more graphic and refined: tone-one circles that represent water drops or ripples in the water linked to the theme of the mosaic on the facade.

The David Collins Studio in London asked me to create a wall mosaic in the hotel’s patio : an open air space, located in the centre of London in front of the Thames. The bespoke mosaic represents the blooming of red and white rambler roses and runs around the entire patio, linking the two monumental fireplaces and unifying the space. The scale, the height and the perspective were crucial parameters to encompass in the elaboration of the ensemble. A gradation of monochrome tesserae going from white to dark red represents the rising smoke.

Groupama Immobilier entrusted Mathilde Jonquière with the creation of a unique and bespoke floor mosaic in a haussmannian building located in the 9th district. Arte Charpentier Architects agency wished to celebrate this Parisian area named « Cercle Opéra » by commissioning works to french artisans underlying its beauty. Mathilde Jonquière brought out the sophisticated identity of it all thanks to a graphic and stylized mosaic. Marble Tassos, Bianco Carrara, Nero and Grigio Carnia tessera coming from Italian quarries close to Spilimbergo, were cut out, and pasted by hand on the floor of this building logged in the heart of a prestigious architectural frame. Like a ribbon, the flexible movement of the drawing guides us from the main door to the impressive spiral staircase.

For this new project, Mathilde Jonquière got her inspiration from the living world and realized a wall mosaic design on the Fuligule duck. This drawing represents the maternal wings of the Fuligule female duck, suggesting the idea of a cocoon, of a fluffy caress and at least, of the children beeinggarded in a safe space.Here, the pattern of the wing appears in flows and interlaces. The material, the color and the kinetic disposition draw a strong vitality in the shading. The movements of the wings remind of the child creativity and of its intellectual abilities emerging. Every tessel is like an idea, a thought that is arising, first disorderly, and then organizing themselves following the drawing, between light and shadow.