Born in Toulouse, France, in 1981, Ciou established a prominent place in the world of contemporary pop art at a very young age. Her style is unmistakeably hers, characterized by a combination of forceful expressive lines, powerful and playful color and deformed shapes. Suspended between dreams and nightmares, Ciou's paintings are a combination of collaged ephemera grounds on which she paints/draws with acrylic and ink using a technique evocative of traditional tattoo art. The result is an imagery guided by quotations from the sacred texts of any time and country, Japanese culture, radical Primitivism and Art Nouveau.Her eyes are open wide all the time in this cute and dark universe.
Ciou gained international visibility in 2004 when she exhibited at the Flux Factory in New York City. Since then she has shown in California, New York, Portland, Seattle, Paris, Barcelona, Brussels and internationally in Berlin, Amsterdam and Rome.
Ciou hails from Paris, France. Her work features the admittedly well worn standard of spooky girls and their animals consorts, however Ciou’s unapologetic punk style (reminiscent of teenage notebook scrawls dialed up to 11) breathes a new brash life into the theme. Her sweet and sour heavy metal nymphs live out their wild carnivalesque fairytales on found vintage papers, taken from old medical books, dictionaries, and nature manuals. Her line-work is by turns thickly layered like decadent rocker girl eyeliner and then meticulously thin and ornate like stitchwork.
--Kirsten Anderson
EDUCATION
DNAP Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts at Toulouse, 2001-2004
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011
"Black Parade", Kochxbos, Amsterdam 2010
"Rebirth" Mondo bizzarro Gallery, Rome
Exhibit curated by the French magazine Hey, Paris "Who's Next Festival"
Exhibit for the "Rencontre du Neuvième Art" Festival Aix en Provence, France
"Mysterious Flowers" ROQ LA RUE Gallery, Seattle, USA
2009
"Nymph Solo Show", Kochxbos Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2008
Acid Candy, Excellence Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2007
Lady Alchemy, l'Art de Rien, Paris, France
2006
Gallery Lily Pink, Aix-en Provence, France
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
"Dear Japan" Donation, Art Connects New York Gallery
"the lost génération", Mondo Bizzarro Gallery, Rome, Italy
The Cotton Candy Machine Gallery, group show, NY, USA
"Métamorphose en Bord de Ciel", show curated by Mathias Malzieu, Art de Rien Gallery, Paris, France
2010
"Open Door in the Sky" Duo show with Anne Brunet , Gallery GHP, Toulouse, France
"Hommage à Skydoll", Gallery Nana, Paris
"Black and White" , Gallery l'Art de Rien, Paris
"Sweet Street",Gallery Nucleus, California
"Urban Superstar"
"BACK from BLACK", MAdre Museum, Naples, ITALY
"PAris CAlling" curated by Art's Factory, Antwerp, Belgium
2009
Winter Show group show, Art's Factory, Paris, France
Affordable Art Fair--Amsterdam, with Kochxbos Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
"The Hinterland in my Room", CAVE Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Step 09 Art Fair, Mondo pop Gallery, Milan, Italy
"Never Say Never Land", L'art de Rien Gallery, Paris, France
"Urban Superstar Show Suite", Mondo Pop Gallery, Rome, Italy
"Urban Superstar Show", Madre Museum of Contemporary Art curated by Mondo Pop, Naples, Italy
"Vinyl Factory", Mondo Pop Gallery, Rome, Italy
"Jolie Poupée", Compound Gallery, Portland
Group Show, MF Gallery, Genova, Italy
2008
MF Toys group show, MF Gallery, New-York, USA
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam, with Kochxbos Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Inside Nostalghia, Dorothy Circus Gallery, Rome, Italy
Eat me Drink me, l'Art de Rien, Paris, France
Halloween Group Show, MF Gallery, New York
Whaleless, True Hate Gallery, La Rochelle, France
Girls, Girls, Girls, MF Gallery, New York
Royal Dolls and Slave Rabbits, Espace Art 22, Brussels, Belgium
2007
Winter Show, Art's Factory, Paris, France
Bestial, Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Girls group show, l'Art de Rien, Paris, France
Dark Heart and Broken Vows, Strychnin Gallery, New York
2006
Graphic Session, Art's Factory, Paris, France
Guest for Lydia Lunch's exhibition, Kennory Kim Gallery, Paris, France
Peluche X Peluche, Lovelies Lab Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Erotika, True Hate Gallery, La Rochelle, France
2005
Group Show, Art's Factory, Paris, France
La main qui dessinait toute seule, Magda Danysz, Paris, France
2004
Cute and Scary, Flux Factory, New York
Freaks, La Mauvaise Réputation, Bordeaux, France
BIBLIOGRAPHY
March 2011: Painting for the book of Mathias Malzieu " Métamorphose en bord de ciel" Flammarion
Dec 2010: drawing in the book "Soleil en Faveur D'Haiti" , soleil edition
June 2010: interview in Hey Magazine, French pop art and modern Culture Magazine, PARIS
March 2010: "Sweet Illustration", collective books Of 22 female artist, 7 double pages of drawings and paintings by Monsa Publisher, Barcelona, SPAIN
November 2009: "Chat Siamois" book release, illustrations by Ciou and story by Guillaume Bianco, VenusDea Publisher
2009 Elegy Magazine
2009 Le Coltin Grafik by Siranouche éditions
2008 Look de Book edition, Creative Guide of Contemporary Art, Spain
2007 Rendez-Vous by éditions En Marge
2007 Notre Combat by edition le Seuil
2006 Elegy Magazine
2006 Erotika by Coniglio Editore
2006 Peau de Lapin
2005 Monztaaah by Belio edition
AWARDS
2009: Nominated for the Young Illustrators Award, Illustrative 09
