Caroline Bouyer

1972, Poissy, France

Professor of engraving at the École Estienne, Paris

Caroline Bouyer, a visual artist and printmaker, focuses on the territory and its transformations.
First of all, that of the body and dreams, with the earlier series Les Bustes and Le Monde intérieur.
But Caroline Bouyer soon went beyond the physical body to focus on the body of a city, Paris, which she surveys to witness its transformations. This led to a series of carborundum engravings on major Parisian construction sites.
A first work on the major works carried out in the heart of the 13th arrondissement of Paris was implemented and rewarded in 2012 by the Prix Lacourière (BNF) and acquired by the Musée Carnavalet.

A second series around the port of Dunkirk and its industrial zone (Arcelor Mittal among others) was carried out by the artist in 2012/2013 during a residency in Gravelines, invited by the Musée du dessin et de l’estampe originale. This work gave rise to an exhibition and a catalogue.
Each series of engravings (monotypes and carborundum) was accompanied by the artist taking testimonies from inhabitants to better understand their perception of these architectural, economic, cultural and urbanisation upheavals in a given space.

In August 2014, the artist decided to focus on a new series, which she entitled Périph’ and which will this time focus on her vision of the current Parisian ring road and its recent changes. She wanted to invest this place that is the ring road, a porous border between two worlds.

The artist takes into account the notion of the passing of time: through her photographic shots, the basis of her work and research, the artist stops her gaze on a place (roads, gates, buildings, construction sites in progress, etc.) at a certain time, while being aware that from August 2014 to January 2016 (the date of the end of her peregrinations), the spaces have still evolved.

It is therefore a shifted chronology but a witness of a moment; of what makes the city evolve and thus its inhabitants.

The artist keeps a trace of her passage and it is from this that she will elaborate her works, through monotypes and aquatint engravings. In 2018, she thus proposes 38 compositions, each on a diffuser, corresponding to the entrance and exit doors of the ring road of Paris. From her monotypes, she then creates her aquatint engravings, giving herself time to reflect and create an image that is not just a topographical account but a sensitive interpretation of a living space.

In the artist’s work, what is seen, what has been experienced (common childhood memories, such as the Church of the Sacred Heart at the Porte de Gentilly when returning from holidays by car…), and what is the future (the rehabilitated Grand Moulins, the Philharmonie de Paris) are mixed together.

In parallel to these series, the artist has produced a set of engravings combining different techniques around the city and nature regaining its rights.
In 2020, Caroline Bouyer developed a research work combining different prints and drawing inspired by natural landscapes. These are Les paysages autonomes.
The line is fine, lively, the compositions complex and detailed. A mysterious atmosphere can be discerned, because underneath a classical first impression, the composition reveals distended perspectives, like cracks within a serene nature.

The “Palimpseste” project, which began in September 2023, will be exhibited for the first time by the gallery at the Paris Print Fair in 2024.
Research and printmaking are at the heart of this project.
Inspired by the move from his former studio, this project emerged from the rediscovery of engraved copper plates and stockpiles of old paper, as well as the desire to engage with this collection and recycle it while enhancing its beauty.

Group Exhibitions since 2010

2022–2026 Paris Print Fair, Nathalie Béreau Gallery, Paris
2025 Urbs! Urban Landscapes, St Michel Library & Gallery, Paris
Fête de l’estampe, Nathalie Béreau Gallery, Paris
2022 Taylor Foundation, Paris
Serpent-vert Gallery, Paris
Hors-Champs Gallery, Paris
2021 “Eden, or the Rediscovered Garden?”, Nathalie Béreau Gallery, Espace des Coutures St Gervais, Paris
Espace Beaurepaire Prize, Paris
2020 “A Parisian Journey”, Nathalie Béreau Gallery, Espace des Grands Augustins, Paris
“Dreams”, Slow Gallery, Paris
2019 “Parallèles », Galerie Nathalie Béreau, Espace Beaurepaire, Paris
2018 “Art et architecture” Centre d’art de Châtellerault
2017 Triennale de l’estampe, Chamalières
“Traversée” Galerie AAB, Paris
2016 “Corps accord” Galerie Nathalie Béreau c/° Galerie Christian Collin, Paris
2015 Salon d’Automne, Paris
2014 Sud estampe, Octon – Slow Galerie, Paris
2013 Salon Cutlog, Galerie Nathalie Béreau, Paris
Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français, Mairie du VIe, Paris
Lille Fair art, Musée de Gravelines, Lille
“Estampe dans la ville” graver maintenant, Ar(t)senal, Dreux
“Estampes Contemporaines” Galerie Nathalie Béreau, Paris
2012 Pointe et burin, Fondation Taylor, Paris
2011 “La taille et le crayon” Mairie du 9e, Paris
2010 Biennale de Saint Maur, Saint Maur
“Regard prospectif IV” Galerie Nathalie Béreau c/° Galerie Christian Collin, Paris

Public Collections

Les Dominicaines, Espace Culturel et Artothèque
Musée Carnavalet, Paris (series Paris XIII and Périph)
Musée du dessin et de l’estampe originale, Gravelines
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
Artothèque du Centre d’art de Châtellerault
Artothèque “La réserve” Vannes
Artothèque, Air France, Orly
Artothèque, Villiers-Le-Bel

Press (selection)

Arts & Métiers du Livre, No. 368, 2025
Le Quotidien de l’art, March 28, 2024, featuring the Nathalie Béreau Gallery
Les Nouvelles de l’estampe, No. 241, 2013

Orders

2010, 2007  Création et édition d’une estampe pour le club de collectionneurs, L’amateur d’estampes contemporaines
2012 Création et édition d’une estampe pour les 30 ans du Musée du dessin et de l’estampe originale, Gravelines

Périph’, set of 38 aquatint engravings. Available for sale.

Paris XIII, carborundum and drypoint engravings. Available for sale