Creating stillness for the song
of the painting to become audible.

The sympathetic artist with French and Andalusian roots originally comes from the equally picturesque Lyon in France, where she enthusiastically began to paint at a young age. Her artistic studies took her across Europe in the 1970s and 1980s at art academies and private schools, from France to Germany and Switzerland to Tuscany in Italy. Murielle has already seen a lot of the world, which is why she distanced herself from the theory and sought her inspiration outside in nature.

Fortunately, because her works are not just simple brushstrokes on a canvas. Murielle combines oil and acrylic paints with an incomparable alchemical mixture of lava, sand, gold leaf and collages into a true visual experience. The dominant black in the background is broken up again and again by a vibrating, radiant light, which gives the works a complex, but also incredibly attractive mystique. Brute forces of nature such as waterfalls, snow masses, winds that sweep over the landscapes, but also a bright blue night sky are part of her world:

Like no other, Murielle manages to reveal rough surfaces and textures with dramatic brushstrokes and at the same time break through with a gentle, soft atmosphere. Her feeling for the transcendence of the world is also a breakthrough internationally: Murielle Argoud has already shown her work at more than 50 solo exhibitions and international art fairs, for example Art Tapei (2013), the Agora Gallery in New York (2014) or the Venice Art Biennale | Personal Structures (2019). Many of her artworks are now in private collections and public institutes, and an altarpiece in a Geneva chapel - which she made during her pregnancy - can be counted among Murielle's artistic work. Her now grown-up daughter was from the beginning a constant "mood witness" instead of an eyewitness.

Incidentally, after more than 16 years in Basel as a course instructor and painter, she and her family moved to Lake Geneva, although she never really settled down there. So it's no wonder that she is always drawn to Ticino and, above all, to Belle-Île-en-Mer, her favorite place. In the eternal search for new horizons and fresh inspiration, Murielle Argoud is ultimately at home where art also lives. Vive les arts!

Text by Delilah Werdermann - Quality magazine

2023
Kunstgalerie Bachlechner, Bergdietikon
Fondation Majid, Ascona
ADC Fine Art, Cincinnati/Ohio, US

2022
Venice Art Biennale, PERSONAL STRUCTURES, ECC
Art International Zürich
MyMicroGallery, Milano

2021
Galerie Claudine Hohl, Zürich

2020
Art International Zürich
Fondation Majid, Ascona

2019
Venice Art Biennale, PERSONAL STRUCTURES, ECC
Galerie Claudine Hohl, Zürich

2018
Art International Zürich

2017
St. Gorgio Gallery, Lugano
Ausstellung am Goetheanum Dornach
Art International Zürich

2016
Kunst in der Casa Berno, Ascona

2015

Museum Trotte Arlesheim, Basel
Art International Zürich
MD Business school Lausanne

2014
Agora Gallery, New York
Galerie Etienne Causan, Paris

2013
Art International Zürich
Artfair Köln
Art Tapei

2012
Art International Zürich

2011
Art International Zürich
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Art and Network Night, Basel

2010
Galerie Rosenhofraum, Wädenswil

2009
Fondation Bolle, Morges
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Art and Network Night, Basel

2008
Salon Art contemporain, Grenoble
Galerie D’Arfi, St-Sulpice, Lausanne

2007
Galerie La Source, Lausanne
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Galerie Christine Colas, Paris

2006
Banque LGT Suisse, Lausanne
Galerie Rüthihübelbad, bei Bern
Galerie La Grange, Romainmôtier
Galerie Muse, Pully, Lausanne

2005
Orangerie Brünglingen, Basel
Galerie Christine Colas, Paris

2004
Galerie Christine Colas, Paris

2003
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Galerie de La Tourelle. Valengin, Neuchâtel

2002
Galerie Castel Bois-Genoud, Crissier

2001
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Galerie Leupys Artplace, Ascona

1999
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel
Galerie du Château, Romainmôtier

1998
Museum Trotte, Arlesheim Basel

1997
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel

1995
Galerie Schlossgasse, Zürich
Galerie Sigarini, Genève
Galerie du Rhône, Genève

1994
Orangerie Brüglingen, Basel

1993
Galerie Schlossgasse, Zürich

1992
Gemeindesaal Kappel, Zürich

1988-89
Auftrag eines Altarbildes für eine Kapelle in Bernex, Genève

1987
Museum Trotte, Arlesheim, Basel
Galerie Decorama, Ronco

1985
Kulturzentrum, München Schwabing
Deutsche Bank, Heidenheim

1984

Museum Trotte, Arlesheim, Basel

1981
Galerie Rosenberg, Hamburg
Galerie Liedvogel, Heidelberg

Inate to painting is the suggestion of the ineffable. The breath of infinity incessantly sways away the beauty that lies between the visible and the invisible.
Through the gesture of nature, through the original archetypes: The backwash of the ocean, the dawn of time, mirrors reflecting light…
In short, grace holding out its hand, from tenderness to ardour, from chaos to harmony.
That’s life!
M.A.

My soul quest: the alchemy of colors! In the fusion of the colors, in the vibrant blow of nature's elements, I rejoice in recreating new inner dimensions, - certain kinds of music inhabit them; -certain scents surround them. There the essence of things is explored. Any motive in my painting, if there is any, is simply a pretext to give expression to the dawn of the light!
M.A.


Je veux peindre ce qui ne se voit pas:
La caresse, le bruissement du vent, de l'eau,
la danse des éléments ainsi que le vide empli de silence,
la vie de la lumière ruisselante.
Là où la parole ne peut plus aller,
la vie de la couleur rejoint le coeur du spectateur.
Laisser son regard suivre les méandres des couleurs,
leurs métamorphoses infinies, qui n'imposent rien mais suggèrent tout...
Faire le silence pour mieux écouter le chant de la peinture.
Faire le silence pour mieux regarder sans chercher à analyser, à étudier, pour être prêt à recevoir...
Pourquoi avoir besoin de l'art et des créateurs de nos jours alors que notre monde est marqué par le primat de l'économique, par la souffrance, la misère?
- l'art ne serait-il pas un antidote ?!
Ouvrir ses yeux et son âme, entrer dans ces paysages intérieurs, les laisser nous pénétrer pour découvrir sa propre paix qui boulverse tout et unifie tout.
M.A.



Le courant de vie,
explore les planètes,
les univers arides,
les univers fertiles,
les coeurs arides,
les coeurs fertiles...
L'Etre assis dans un désert brûlé par le soleil;
herbes de sable,
de ronces se partageant
cet univers avec les cailloux.
Etre serein...
de blanc écru vétu,
indicibles bruits,
autour de lui,
entonnant la mélopée de la vie;
cheveux ondulés,
mi-longs léchés
par une douce brise.
Etre par-terre assis,
de sa main caresse le sol;...
étoffe épaisse de bure,
se fondant avec la terre
se fondant avec l'air
et pourtant si plastique.
Mélopée d'hommages à la Vie!
M.A.

Innate to painting is the suggestion of the ineffable.
The breath of infinity sways incessantly the beauty that lies between the visible and the invisibles.
Through the gesture of nature, through the original archetypes: The backwash of the ocean, the dawn of time, mirrors reflecting light ….
In short, grace holding out its hand, from tenderness to ardour, from chaos to harmony.
That’s life!

M.A.

Das der Malerei eigene Geheimnis der Eingebung ruft das Unaussprechliche hervor. Schönheit entsteht aus Dargestelltem und Verborgenem,
immerfort gewogen vom Atem der Unendlichkeit, getragen von den Gebärden allem zu Grunde liegender Archetypen: die unermüdliche Brandung des Meeres,
die Welle aus der Dunkelheit der Zeiten, der Widerschein von Licht in Spiegeln…
Schöpfungsatem, der geheimnisvoll mit unvermitteltem Schwung einsetzt und sich wandelt in ein beständiges Glühen, das sich auftut in eine Leere,
wo alles ohne Worte steht. Es ist die Anmut, die ihre Hand ausstreckt von der Sanftheit bis zum Ungestüm, vom Chaos bis zur Harmonie. Das ist Leben.

M.A. Uebersetzung Rolf Fiechter

<...Rêvons, c'est l'heure.
Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l'astre irise...
C'est l'heure exquise. >
Verlaine

Après avoir suivi un cursus académique et spirituel, c'est en solitaire que Murielle Argoud voulut tout oublier pour mieux se trouver.
Le lien étroit qui la relie à la nature, ces souffles légers mais impérieux la guident alors, dans sa traversée du réel.
Pourquoi ces rouges puisés dans le coeur d'une rose pourpre nous ébranlent-ils tant? On est étrangement surpris d'éprouver une joie poignante.
Dès lors on est différent, le réveil, l'éveil... on a touché d'un frôlement imprécis un instant de tristesse et de beauté.
Dans ces infinis bleus, elle nous fait écouter l'incessant bruit des ressacs.
Celui qui sait voir... déjà ne me lit plus.
Jusqu'à ce jour, l'artiste a une quarantaine d'expositions individuelles à son actif, Munich, Hamburg, Bâle, Zurich, Paris etc...
La maîtrise de son art déjà nous fait entrevoir son avenir.

Sylvie Kamran Dallenbach
éditrice

Die Enge des Alltags wird von Murielle Argoud durchbrochen. Überraschend führen ihre Farben in den Lebensstrom hinein:
sie beleben immer wieder neu, von Bild zu Bild. Ihr Schaffen bewirkt ein tiefes Durchatmen nach neuen Horizonten
und ermöglicht eine ständige Erfrischung.

Dr. Björn Riggenbach,
Kunstsammler

Whenever we talk about <alchemy> in the sense of searching or transformation, of metamorphosis or development, of increased perception,
research or interest - and when we consider these qualities as aspects of the <alchemy> - then this idiom contributes to Murielle Argoud’s intentions.
She experiences the primordial process of development in the encounter, the struggle and the conflation and Murielle Argoud’s experiences inspiration by the given materials. The artist takes the origin of her themes from the inspiration by penetrating and interfusing elements at the transitions of water, air and light or by reflections on objects. The inspiration leads to the primordial processes and full-fills a deep metamorphosis.
Murielle Argoud realizes her themes with the means of expression like sand, gold, lava and the pigments she uses. These materials are old symbols which also lead to the primordial processes and to experiences on higher levels.
Murielle Argoud abandons the concrete objects and she has a fantastic way of transcending the material aspect of the materials she uses in the paintings. They put themselves unselfish decently in the background:
Lava, melted stone, carbonized an hardened, this unique black leads to the depth, to the primordial ground, to the all including including initial beginning. Sand represents and reflects all: Being, becoming and passing, duration and volatilité, strength and infirmity, humanity, microcosm and macrocosm.
An in the interspace, the Artist interweaves in a wonderful way the different pigment like a rainbow of conjunction, coherence an unity. Structures in the paintings support these processes with build in balancing, condensing, dramatizing, calming, talking or keeping silent, aloud or gent, unitary or oppositional, in different ways, but never indifferent!
Murielle Argoud is a Master of transitions, of transformations and development and - admiring her paintings, you become aware of this in every small detail. Colors and light pour out of the paintings and the possibility of a profound an in the same time sublime contemplation develops in the soul of the beholder.

Hans Peter Müller-Boada,
Introduction Galerie Rosenhofraum 2010

Artikel aus dem Quality Magazine: Alchemie der Kunst