Biography

Michèle Bérenguier who was born in Morocco in 1947 comes from a family of both professional and amateur artists.

Fascinated from her chilhood by the colours and arabesques of moroccan art, she experimented from early on with shapes, curves and colours.

In her teens she discovered the works of Franz Marc, Paul Klee, Chagall and Kandinsky during a stay at a Frankfurt Art Institute.

She became deeply interested in Kandinsky's theories and ideas on abstract art.
During the period of her studies in German, she attented for some time the School of Fine Arts in Aix en Provence.
Her contribution to various artistic events dates from this period.

In the 1990s, she took part in workshops organised by the association "Musique, Rythme et Expression" on music and movement (body language), dance and percussion instruments, which familiarised her with choreographic creations.

These activities fired her imagination and had a great impact on her artistic research.

From this point onward, there is a consensuous effort to connect the rythm of music, the movements of dance, and her own gestural approach in painting.

During the same period, she studied with local artists and became at ease in gestural painting and abstract creative works. She continued to work with color, her work being influenced by her childhood memories, the mediterranean athmosphere and her attraction for birds, nature, the sea, and boats.

Water, which is her favourite element, also has an important role; it is not only a source of inspiration but also influences her painting techniques.

Her paintings reflect her interest in dancing, singing and music and her love of moving waters. She casts her eyes over the people and life in the streets of her adoptive town Martigues.

Since 2005, she pursued her interest in gestural and chromatic research, and at the same time has been actively involved in local artistic events, joined various associations of painters and begun to exhibit her works on a regular basis.