“Passages”, from the series “Habiter la forêt” (living in the forest), 2023

Every year the taxidermist Deyrolle awards a prize for paintings of nature, exhibited at Salon des Beaux Arts and organises a show in their magical shop of rue du Bac. This year Béatrice Meunier-Déry won, with her amazing drawings made with a felt pen O,O3  and a magnifier. Born in the French Ardennes, Béatrice studied architecture before devoting all her time to drawings and sculpture. For these works, she is at her desk for six hours non stop, and lets her imagination travel. She works from Roubaix where she shares a studio with fourteen other artists and will exhibit “Nam Khas, The People of women clouds” at Musée International du costume et du Masque in Binche, Belgium, next July 5 to January 7.

“La part de l’ombre” (part of the shadow) in the series “The garden after”

Her drawings are influenced by the dense forest where she was born but also by science and local folk tales, magic and shamanism. There is no human presence in these works except for the huts left behind and invaded by the trees. She always built mental shacks in the woods when she walked at age 6, with her father. And she continues with her pencils and pens.  Some of her drawings are definitely influenced by Japan, where she has never been, but since they are all imaginary… She is also a determined feminist and a fighter for environmental causes. And next July she will show in Binge, an invented tribe of Himalaya ladies, the “Nam Khas”, with their customs, their clothes and their beliefs. These are part of her sociological studies of women’s civilizations, Indian, Chinese, Mexican,  which she has been interested in since she was a young woman without ever leaving her studio.

“Le rempart” (the rampart) 2023

Meeting her was extraordinarily sympathique and the strength of her art is all contained in her personality. Extremely modest at first, she becomes a force of nature when she talks about her fights for the condition of women… Her works are very whimsical with palm trees suddenly emerging from a conventional forest and you can start dreaming about the perfect house while watching her constructions.

“Le silence autour du buisson” exhibition takes place at Deyrolle, 46 rue du Bac,  until June 24. Prices range from 1 600€ to 5 000€.