Exhibition “Wing under the Wings,” Deyrolles, France, 2017

Muriel Pénicaud, artist and Minister of Labor

By Sophie Fay - Published May 20, 2017.

Muriel Pénicaud, Minister of Labor in Edouard Philippe's government, has a secret passion: photography. A dozen of her works are on display not far from her ministry, on the first floor of the Deyrolle boutique Deyrolle, "a two-hundred-year-old Parisian institution with an educational mission," according to its director Francine Campa. The boutique, founded in 1831, is located at 46 Rue du Bac in Paris's 7th arrondissement. 

A bird-loving minister

On the first floor of this shop-museum, where you can see—and buy—stuffed animals (polar bears, lionesses, tigresses... and even a unicorn), a dozen photos of birds hang on the walls, framing a rhinoceros and a zebra.

Birds in flight or perched, swift or fragile, in black and white, no doubt captured near the Baie de Somme, where the minister has a house (in Le Crotoy). "We choose our artists based on their view of nature," explains Francine Campa.

"Muriel Pénicaud does not photograph birds. She photographs what they embody: myths, divinities, angels, demons, humans. She attempts to restore within us a part of the splendor that once belonged to us," explains Pierre Bongiovanni, poet and artistic director of Maison Laurentine, in the exhibition's press release. 

"When I heard her name in the government, I looked at her photo: yes, it was her," smiles Francine Campa, surprised.

Muriel Pénicaud approached Deyrolle to present these photos, which are being sold for around €950 each, with proceeds going to the Sakura Foundation. Created in 2012 by the minister, who was then HR director at Danone, its aim is to "promote, support, and develop activities of general interest mainly carried out by young people aged 15 to 30, women, and social entrepreneurs, and which are innovative in the fields of education, science, culture, art, society, or the environment."

Deyrolle is also exhibiting photos by Marc Dantan. The boutique-museum previously hosted a cabinet of curiosities by artist Damien Hirst. Following this exhibition, which ends tonight, Saturday, May 20, Deyrolle will exhibit Jean-Luc Maniouloux's work on the links between urban life and nature in early June. 

Sophie Fay