Born in 1978 in Lausanne, Switzerland – Lives and works in Paris
Caroline Denervaud is a multidisciplinary Swiss artist whose work explores the dynamic intersection of performance, painting, and video. Trained in classical and contemporary dance at the Laban Centre in London, she later studied fine arts at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and fashion design at Studio Berçot. Since 2015, she has developed a distinctive practice in which the body, through improvised movement, becomes her primary tool.
Her process unfolds in three phases: performance, painting, and video. Each piece begins with an improvised performance, filmed in a raw, unscripted style. The artist uses her body to leave physical traces on canvas, often with charcoal or ink, marking the beginning of the composition. These gestures arise from ritual-like conditions involving specific clothing, silence or sounds, and spatial awareness, allowing the body to speak a language beyond words. As
Denervaud notes, “What does not emerge with words, emerges with movement. ”The painting process extends and transforms this initial trace. Working with casein on large-scale surfaces, first on the floor and later on the wall, she remains physically engaged with the canvas. Colour becomes a means to embody and organize the energy of the gesture, generating volume, balance, and abstract narratives. Guided by rhythm and intuition, Denervaud composes a visual language rooted in physical experience.
The video works function both as documentation and as autonomous pieces. Their unfiltered aesthetic reveals the emergence of a non-verbal, embodied language in real time. More recently, Denervaud has begun exploring repetition and seriality by integrating choreographed movement sequences into her process, further deepening her research into gesture, variation, and presence.
Through this hybrid and evolving practice, Denervaud investigates the boundaries between disciplines, and the interplay of control, intuition, memory, and energy. Her work articulates an abstract yet deeply corporeal visual language.
Caroline Denervaud has exhibited widely in solo exhibitions in Paris, New York, Seoul, Boston, Los Angeles, Milan, Antwerp, London, Brussels, Marseille, Nice, Germantown, Ascona and Cully. Her group shows include presentations in Miami, Shanghai, Berlin, Hamburg, Istanbul, Melbourne, Arles, and more. Collaborations include a mural for designer India Mahdavi in Saint-Tropez, a filmed performance and traces on paper for the Nomad Hotel in London, and projects with the fashion houses Chloé, Roksanda, and Coralie Marabelle. She has performed at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, at Teatro San Materno in Ascona with filmmaker Derrick Belcham, and in New York and Paris with dancer Adrien Dantou. In 2023, she presented her work at Columbia University’s Art Market Society (CAMS).