Cathy de Monchaux, a prominent British artist from the 1990s known for her erotic and dystopic sculptures, has opened a major survey exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris titled 'Studio, Wounds and Battles, Desire is the Reiteration of Hope'. The show comes 26 years after her last major solo exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC, and includes a facsimile of her Hoxton studio, featuring intimate sketchbooks, maquettes, and early works. De Monchaux, who graduated from Goldsmiths in 1987 and was nominated for the Turner Prize, largely stepped away from the public exhibition circuit to raise her son, focusing instead on private commissions.
This exhibition matters because it marks a significant comeback for an artist who was once considered one of the most important British artists of her generation but had largely disappeared from the institutional spotlight. Her return highlights the challenges faced by women artists—especially single mothers—in sustaining high-profile careers, and the show's inclusion of her studio as an artwork offers a rare, raw glimpse into her creative process. It also repositions de Monchaux within contemporary art discourse, connecting her 1990s work with newer pieces that explore themes of time, femininity, and personal mythology.