ABOUT / CONTACT
mathilde[at]mathildepelle.fr
Mathilde Pellé is a French designer, artist, and researcher born in 1987.
Alongside her work designing objects and spaces, she has been conducting her research project, *Soustraire*, since 2016. Through this approach,she views subtraction as a powerful agent of transformation (just as much as addition). To study the forms that make up our environments and to question accepted contemporary environments and the lifestyles they impose, Pellé employs “less” in a multifaceted practice that blends experimental projects, design, inquiry, writing, sculpture, visual art, and documentary work. By tirelessly posing this question: Why is there something rather than less?, she suggests possible reductions and questions the material excesses induced by Western models.
Mathilde Pellé graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2012.
Various cultural institutions have hosted her in residency for her projects: the 10th Saint-Étienne International Biennial (2017), CID at Grand-Hornu (2018 and 2024), Deep DesignLab/Cité du Design St-Étienne & École Urbaine de Lyon (2020–2021), Cap Moderne site (2021), Villa Albertine (2024), Institut Français de Barcelone (2025).
Her first solo exhibition, *Maison soustraire, a posteriori*, took place in 2022 as part of the 12th Saint-Étienne International Design Biennial. In 2024, the Martell Foundation in Cognac presented the monographic exhibition Mathilde Pellé – Chemin creux. Her work has been exhibited at the Via and Tools galleries, at the CID in Grand-Hornu, at the Mudac, at the Musée de la Marine in Paris, and distributed by COAL and ‘DROP !’.
She has been published in the journals Plan L****, Issue #12 (HEAD), Azimuts #54, A°2021, and Décor. Her work is included in the collections of the CID at Grand-Hornu and the FRAC Grand-Large.
EXHIBITIONS :
Upcoming: • October 2026: Solo exhibition The Weight of Things, Institut Français de Barcelone
• Jan. 21 > Mar. 9, 2026 group exhibition Artists Set Sail, National Maritime Museum, Paris
• November 20–December 11, 2025: Solo exhibition TONS of, La chambre des méthodes – DROP !, Saint-Étienne
• 2026 solo exhibition (Institut Français de Barcelone)
• March 21 – October 5, 2025: Group exhibition *Soleil.s*, Mudac, Lausanne
• October 6, 2024 > February 16, 2025: Group exhibition “Autofiction,” CID at Le Grand-Hornu, Belgium
• June 8 – December 29, 2024: Solo exhibition Mathilde Pellé, Chemin Creux, Martell Corporate Foundation, Cognac
• June 30–December 31, 2023 : Group exhibition *Almanach: Designers’ Perspectives on the Resources of theCharentes Region*, featuring Olivier Peyricot, Lola Carrel, and Valentin Patis, at the Martell Foundation, Cognac
• June 4–July 31, 2022: Solo exhibition Maison soustraire, a posteriori, 12th Saint-Étienne International Design Biennial
• May 24–November 25, 2018: Group exhibition “Venice Design 2018,” Palazzo Michiel, Venice
• July 1–October 21, 2018: Group exhibition “Stop Growth!”, CID at Le Grand-Hornu, Belgium
• May 31–June 3, 2018: Group exhibition *Pure Waste*, Carreau du Temple, Paris, curated by COAL
• April 20–May 6, 2018: Group exhibition *Hybrid(e)*, Galerie du VIA, Paris
• May 19–July 8, 2017: Group exhibition “ExtraOrdinaire,” Toolsgalerie, Paris
• May 30–June 5, 2016: Group exhibition “Dignes Design,” Bastille Design Center, Paris
• September 12, 2015: Group exhibition *Now! le off*, Cité de la mode et du design, Paris
• June 5–September 22, 2012: Group exhibition “Le VIA des écoles,” Galerie du VIA, Paris
ACTION RESEARCH, RESIDENCIES :
- 10 > 20.09 2025 residence Dolia IFrench Institute of Barcelona, Spain
• 10 > September 20, 2024 project Citro Subtrat 1987, Hornu and Cid Provincial High School in Grand-Hornu, Belgium
- 26.08 > 05.09 2024 residence, Objets amoindrisMartell Foundation, Cognac
• 7 > February 23, 2024 On-board residence, Non-Operational On-Board Objects, North Atlantic, container ships Marius, Villa Albertine, Marfret, and the National Maritime Museum
-06.09 > 31.10 2021 residence me Soustraireassociation Eileen Gray . Étoile de mer . Le Corbusier, Cap Moderne site, Roquebrune Cap- Martin
- 18. 10 > 25.12 2020 experimental project Maison SoustraireDeep Design Lab, Cité du design Saint-Étienne and Ecole Urbaine de Lyon
- 28.06 > 08.07 2018 experimental project A shortage CID du Grand-Hornu
- 9.03 > 9.04 2017 experimental project Subtract, objects disappearXth International Design Biennial, Saint-Étienne
WORKSHOPS:
- 09.17 > 12.10 2024 workshop Disrupting material certaintiesUniversité Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris
- 23 > 25.09 2024 workshop Confluences, ITB design center, Bandung, Indonesia
- 6 > 10.03 2023 workshop Mine de toutESADTPM
• 5 > 6.10 / 2 > 3.11 2023 workshop TOO MUCH-NOT ENOUGH , EBABX
-7 > 11.02 2022 workshop 'Remains'isda-Toulouse
• November1 , 2021 / December 1, 2021 / April 7, 2021 workshop “-thèque”, ENSA Limoges
- 6 > 9.04 2021 workshop On the groundENSA Dijon
- 1 > 6.01 2021 workshop Basic needs, comfort, décor EESAB Brest
- 15 > 18.01 2019 workshop Restore the time of the workshopENSA Limoges
- 16 > 19.10 2018 workshop Creating in shortage CID in Grand-Hornu, Belgium, ESA Saint-Luc
CONFERENCES :
• November 18, 2025: Talk/Screening Cargo Ships, Global Logistics, Mathilde Pellé and Claire Flécher, ENSASE, Saint-Étienne
• September 25, 2025: Conference Minimalism as a Method, Marché des Douves, Bordeaux
- 19.11 2024 intervention seminar Arquitectura Frugal: el nuevo realismo, Institut Français de Barcelone, Spain
- 09.09 2024 round table organization and moderation Explorations des moinswith Ernesto Oroza & Arne Hendriks, talks Paris Design Week, Paris
- 11.04 2024 conference Le moins comme méthodeTALM, Angers
- 14.12 2023 conference Subtracting - forms & experiencesMusée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- 14.11 2023 study day, Séduction-Minimum, Haute École des Arts du Rhin, Mulhouse
- 30.10 2023 course Maison Soustraire - methodÉcole Spéciale d'Architecture, Paris
- 09.06 2023 conference SubtractHaute École des Arts du Rhin, Strasbourg
- 24. 11 2022 conference Subtractive practicesÉcole Supérieure de Design, Villefontaine
• June 23, 2022: Roundtable Discussion: “Bifurcate?”, Cité du Design,Saint-Étienne
- 29.04 2022 organization and moderation of the round table Vecteur moins, subtraction as a method with P.D. Huyghe and J.B. Farkas, Cité du design Saint- Étienne
• April 13, 2022: Roundtable discussion on “The Challenges of Minimalist Living”withPenny Sparke, Géraldine Dabrigeon, and Cédric Libert,Citédu design Saint-Étienne
• November 22, 2021: Roundtable discussion “New Ethics, New Aesthetics” with William Amor, L’Oréal Luxe site, Levallois-Perret
• October 30, 2021: " Me Soustraire" lecture, Cap Moderne,RoquebruneCap-Martin
• November 27, 2020 Conversations with Maison Soustraire, European Researchers’Night, online
• November 3, 2020: Symposium on “Resilience and the Quality of Public Housing in a Time of Transition,” Entretiens Jacques Cartier, online
- 13.02 2020 conference "Subtracting?", The Antrhopocene Grid cycle proposed by the Deep Design Lab, EESAD Brest
- 22. 02 2019 conference Subtracting, from materials to needsParis Design Summit
- 11/17/2018 conference Subtracting, from matter to needsParis Design Forum
• October 21, 2018: Roundtable discussion “Equipping for Degrowth” with Paul Ariès, Pierre Échard, and Laurent de Sutter, CID Grand-Hornu, Belgium
PUBLICATIONS:
Coming soon: • Summer 2026 (House) Subtract / Subtract (house), monograph, Les Comissaires Anonymes – ‘Objet d’étude’ collection
• April 2026 article Not Things?, Plan L* * * * magazine, issue 215, Maison de l’Architecture Occitanie-Pyrénées
• 2026 TONS of, exhibition catalog, ‘DROP!’ collection – Saint-Étienne
• 2025 album Non-Operational On Board, States #3, Creative Magazine by Villa Albertine – New York
- 2022 contribution, ISSUE #12, Journal of art & design HEAD - Geneva
• 2022 correspondance CydRe <> Mathilde Pellé, revue Azimuts #54, éditions de la Cité du design – Saint- Étienne
- 2021 interview with Mathilde Pelléby J.B. Farkas, Beaucoup plus de moins series, Riot Éditions
- 2021 contribution, revue A°2021, co-publication École Urbaine de Lyon & Éditions deux-cent-cinq
- 2021 article the surplusDécor magazine, École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs & Presses du Réel
SCHOLARSHIPS, AWARDS, COLLECTIONS:
• 2026: Added to the collections of FRAC Grand Large – Hauts-de-France
• 2025 recipient of the Post-Residencies grant,Albertine Foundation / Villa Albertine
• 2018 Skeleton Objects Finalist project,Audi Talents
• 2018: Added to the CID’s collections at Grand-Hornu
TRAININGS :
- 2012 > 2015 ENSADlab Paris, SAIL group (Science et Art des Interactions Lumière, matière, couleur)
- personal research project : Landmarks
- 2006 > 2012 École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, object design department
- 2012 diploma : Le Poids des choses
- dissertation 2010: Primary needs