Biography

 

Marie-Jo Lafontaine was born in Antwerpen, Belgium, in 1950.

From 1975 to 1979, she studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et des Arts Visuels, ‘La Cambre’ in Brussels, Belgium. In those years she was awarded several prizes including: ‘Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge’ (Brussels) in 1977; Bronze medal ‘Prix Europe de la Peinture’ (Oostende, Belgium) in 1978 and the Award ‘Prix de la Critique’ (Antwerpen) in 1979.

In 1980 her practice turned to multi source and multi screen video installations. Then in 1985 she was awarded a grant for a residency at the MIT, Boston, USA. She was the invited artist at the 1986-87 Festival d’Avignon, France. In 1987 she was invited to exhibit her work ‘Les Larmes d’Acier’ at documenta in Kassel, Germany.

Lafontaine had dedicated retrospectives at the Gallerie de Jeu de Paume in Paris in 1999, at two museums in Angers, France in 2008 and at the Musée du Botanique in Bruxelles in 2008.

She has taught in several art academies and universities including the Sommerakademie (Salzburg, Austria), the HFG in Karlsruhe, Germany, the Bundesakademie für Kulturelle Bildung in Wolfenbüttel, Germany and the U.D.K. in Berlin, Germany.

In 2006 Lafontaine won the Sky Arena Project with her video ‘I Love the World’ that was presented at the Opening of the World Football Cup in Frankfurt, Germany.

She lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.