CAC Brétigny

Lettres du quotidien – Extraits, débuts, jeux, traces
by Malak El Zanaty Varichon and Mona Varichon
Curated by: Marion Vasseur Raluy (Director)

▲ Espace de la Croix-Louis, Brétigny-sur-Orge
17.01—14.03.2026

          Lettres du quotidien – Extraits, débuts, jeux, traces is an exhibition which invites visitors to discover the works of artists Malak El Zanaty Varichon and her daughter Mona Varichon. The exhibition gathers a large body of works created by the two artists at different points of their lives between 1996 and 2025. Their practices draw from the conversations and shared experiences of their familial and everyday lives.

As an art instructor since the early 1990s, Malak has worked primarily at the Children’s Workshop of the Centre Pompidou as well as schools and care facilities in Paris and the surrounding area. Alongside her work and daily life over the past forty years, she created collages, photographs, paintings and assemblages. This exhibition at the CAC Brétigny marks the first time that Malak presents her work in a public French institution.

During her art studies in the United States, Mona worked as an archivist for contemporary artists. She subsequently decided to integrate this practice into both her mother’s work and her own. Although they lived far away, Mona also began recording their phone calls which would go on to become the material for her first films.

Together, Malak and Mona blur the lines between amateur and professional, between intimate space and public space, and between the art world and personal interpretation.

Mona Varichon (born in 1989 in Paris) is an artist and translator. She holds degrees in sociology (Université Paris Descartes) and fine arts (San Francisco Art Institute and ArtCenter, Los Angeles). She has recently exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Mécènes du Sud (Montpellier), Air de Paris gallery (Romainville), the Van Gogh Foundation (Arles), Capc (Bordeaux), Villa Arson (Nice), Bel Ami, The Vanity Gallery, and Kristina Kite (Los Angeles), as well as at Chichas de la Pensée (Pantin). She is the recipient of the 2024 Ricard Prize.

Malak El Zanaty Varichon (born in 1952 in Giza, Egypt) lives and works in Paris. From 1990 to 2021, she led visual arts workshops with the association Art-Éveil in nursery and primary schools, with adults, community groups, and at the Atelier des Enfants at the Centre Pompidou. Her personal work, developed alongside her family and professional life, has recently been shown at Treize (Paris), Air de Paris (Romainville), Cocotte (Treignac), the Paris Internationale and Systema (Marseille) fairs, and at the Vanity Gallery (Los Angeles).