Cécile Savelli Exhibition

CÉCILE SAVELLI I SHANGHAI CULTURAL SPACE

THIS LONG ROAD THAT LEADS TO THE SELF

EXHIBITION I APRIL 19 - JULY 31, 2025

Shanghai’s ICICLE Cultural Space opens its new season with a solo exhibition by Cécile Savelli, one of the most compelling voices in the Marseille art scene. Presented as part of the "Croisements" festival, this exhibition features forty works created between 2009 and the present. The selection—primarily acrylics on canvas in both small and large formats— explores fifteen years of Savelli’s practice.

This Long Road That Leads to the Self marks Cécile Savelli’s first exhibition in Asia, and exhibits works created between 2009 and the present day. As if to reclaim time once lost to a life where creation slipped away, Cécile has worked tirelessly over the past fifteen years in her Marseille studio. Her work, located principally in the domestic space, is rooted in daily experience but transcends the literal. With a focus on compositional balance and tonal precision, she avoids saturated hues, crafting her own colours and weaving muted chromatic harmonies of broken tones.

“In this sanctuary of harmony, protected from the noise of the world, she gives herself total freedom: experimenting with materials, shifting perspectives, and exploring bold compositions. Each painting is a quest for the balance and serenity that was once denied her.”

Myriam Kryger, curator

ICICLE CULTURAL SPACE I SHANGHAI
ICCF GARDEN, 2, HENGSHAN ROAD – XUHUI DISTRICT, SHANGHAI

CÉCILE SAVELLI

Born in 1962 in Versailles, Cécile Savelli lives and works in Marseille. A student at the Beaux-Arts d'Avignon in the 1980s, she took a two-decade hiatus from art.

Resuming an artistic practice after such a long hiatus demands courage, perseverance, and deep conviction, and Cécile has worked tirelessly for the past fifteen years in her Marseille studio, exploring a wide range of formats and media: oil and acrylic on canvas, ink, pencil, and charcoal on paper. More recently, she has introduced weaving into her practice.

Today, Cécile Savelli is regarded as one of the most compelling figures of the contemporary Marseille art scene, presenting a solo exhibition every year. In 2021, a monographic publication was dedicated to her work, accompanied by the refined prose of renowned art critic Michel Nuridsany. Her works are held in both public and private collections in France.

Untitled, 2017, acrylic on oilcloths, 127x105 cm. © Cécile Savelli, ADGAP, Paris. Photo: M. Malberti

Untitled, 2017, acrylic on oilcloths, 140x120 cm. © Cécile Savelli, ADGAP, Paris. Photo: M. Malberti

Household self-portrait, 2009, wax painting on wood, 50x30 cm. © Cécile Savelli, ADGAP, Paris. Photo: M. Malberti

Dialogue series, 2016, printed fabric and acrylic on canvas, 46x61 cm. © Cécile Savelli, ADGAP, Paris. Photo: M. Malberti

SHANGHAI CULTURAL SPACE

The ICICLE Space, located in ICCF Garden, aims to foster encounters between artists and cultural practitioners from East and West, in the pursuit of a global community of art and culture.