France – Paris
Maxime Leroy works with feathers with a rock and haute couture spirit to take them to the field of art and design.
What do a pump, a motorcycle, a lamp, and a Moulin Rouge costume have in common? The feather dressings of Maxime Leroy. He was trained in featherwork by the only school in the world teaching this art, the Parisian high school Octave Feuillet, where he took classes from Dominique Pillard, but also from the master of art Nelly Saunier.
Since then, he has cultivated the art of detour. “You can do anything with a pen,” says the creator for whom there is no limit but that of his imagination and respect for his material. He proves it by playing with the illusions of textures and trompe-l’oeil, and by using the feather where we do not expect it.
Dyed, cut, burned, braided, and sewn, it creates unusual associations with wood, leather, or metal. Thus, the artist has grown a moss more real than life on a block of burned wood, thanks to a vaporous, dyed turkey down; imitated the coat and mane of a lion in his Nemean Trophy; personified the frame of a bicycle by plating it with black feathers; and staged the aerodynamics of an unbridled motorcycle named Celine, for the Palais de Tokyo…
Just ten years ago, Maxime Leroy opened his workshop, M. Marceau workshop, to bring ancestral techniques up to date and develop his personal vision of the profession. Since then, his collaborations with practitioners of other disciplines have given birth to pieces as graphic as a stool whose seat is adorned with the reflections of turkey feathers, designed with Sarah Madelaine Bru, or the Eclipse lamp created jointly with Ludwig & Dominique, masters of art in cabinet making. If the greatest haute couture houses call upon him, he develops his own style with Sacco Baret, a luxury brand founded with the designers Paul Baret and Jayma Sacco, to renew fashion accessories.
Shoes, bags, and jewelry become art to wear. In order to keep alive a rare know-how, Maxime Leroy has also taken over the artistic direction of the house of Février, labeled as a Living Heritage Company. Founded in 1929, the company has dressed the greatest stars of the music hall in feathers and continues to bring their enchantment to life. From tradition to creation, featherwork is indeed a contemporary art.
Atelier M. Marceau, www.m-marceau.com
@m.marceau.m, @m.maxim.m
Exhibition “Haute-voltige. Works in feathers by Maxime Leroy.”
From May 24 to November 12, 2023
Museum of Precious Arts Paul-Dupuy, Toulouse.
13é rue de la Pleau, 31000 Toulouse
Tel. 05 31 22 95 40
www.museepauldupuy.toulouse.fr
@musee_paul_Dupuy