Artist Olivia Cognet has unveiled her latest exhibition ‘Visions’ at Monaco’s Mareterra district, presenting monumental ceramic works designed specifically for Renzo Piano’s floating architecture.
Following a four-month residency at Mareterra, Cognet decided to create these new works dedicated to Monaco’s newest district. Located at 8 Quai du Petit Portier, the exhibition opened with a vernissage on 25th July.
Cognet’s practice sits at the threshold of sculpture and poetic language, exploring ceramics as what she describes as “a living material— instinctive, raw, and sensitive.” The works include bas-reliefs, enameled lava pieces, sculptural lights, vertical totems, expansive tables, and hybrid forms.
Dialogue with space and architecture
The artist has created what she calls “a dense, silent ensemble where each peace enters into dialogue with space, with gravity, with light, with emptiness.” Each work has been conceived specifically in resonance with Piano’s architecture suspended between sea and sky.
“Here, earth is memory: shaped through a gesture that is both primal and precise, where the strength of form never overshadows the delicacy of line,” Cognet explains.
Cognet’s approach draws from both architectural principles and artisanal knowledge, focusing on “the trace of the hand, the insistence of matter, the breath of form.”
Exploring tension between earth and sky
The exhibition also explores what Cognet identifies as “the fertile tension between grounding and ascension.” Her ceramic works provide an earthen counterpoint to Mareterra’s high-tech floating urbanism.
“Vestiges and Visions becomes a sensory passage— a crossing where past, present, and future are bound in clay, in silence, in gesture,” according to the artist.
Rather than simply being displayed, the works are described as “opened” within Piano’s unprecedented landscape of floating urbanism, creating an ongoing dialogue between ancient ceramic traditions and contemporary architectural innovation.
The exhibition continues until 23rd November 2025 at Mareterra Monaco, 8 Quai du Petit Portier.
Stay updated with Monaco Life: sign up for our free newsletter, catch our podcast on Spotify, and follow us across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok.