Mariko Visiteur Boudeur

Inspired by the traditional clay statues and sculptures created by tribespeople she saw as a child growing up in Africa, sculptor Mariko continues to explore folk art of that type in her studio. Working with materials such as ceramic, bronze and sandstone to create her figurative sculptures and nude sculptures, Mariko explores mythology, the animal kingdom and more.

Mariko was born in 1958 and was raised in Madagascar, where she was fascinated by the work of local artisans, who created figurative sculptures in clay. During her adolescence, she learned more about different sculpting techniques while traveling throughout Kenya, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Corsica and Côte d’Ivoire. At the age of 14, Mariko decided to become an artist and, because she was too young to attend art school, received private lessons from the director at the Abidjan School of Fine Arts in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 

In the early 1980s, Mariko left Africa to continue her art education in France, where she studied clay art and sculpture at the Beaux-Arts de Montpellier. There, she became influenced by Cubism. After graduating from the school in 1987, Mariko worked with Parisian decorators. During the early 1990s, she worked as a freelance designer, creating garden furniture at the Terrada Ganges factory.

After Mariko spent a year studying old architecture and rehabilitation techniques at the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, she moved to southern Corsica, where she established a studio and opened an art school — Artu Di A Tarra. 

From her workshop in the small Corsican village of Santa-Lucia di Talla, Mariko specializes in monumental sculptures made of glazed ceramics, resin, wood panels and recycled materials, such as engine parts. Her work has been exhibited at numerous galleries, including the Galerie Frank Picon in Paris, Gauchet Fine Art in the French Riviera and Miami, Galerie du Port in Bonifacio and Art Basel Miami Beach.

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Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

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Figurative sculptures mix reality and imagination, with the most common muse being the human body. Animals are also inspirations for these sculptures, along with forms found in nature.

While figurative sculpture dates back over 35,000 years, the term came into popularity in the 20th century to distinguish it from abstract art. It was aligned with the Expressionist movement in that many of its artists portrayed reality but in a nonnaturalistic and emotional way. In the 1940s, Alberto Giacometti — a Swiss-born artist who was interested in African art, Cubism and Surrealism — created now-iconic representational sculptures of the human figure, and after World War II, figurative sculpture as a movement continued to flourish in Europe.

Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon were some of the leading figurative artists during this period. Artists like Jeff Koons and Maurizio Cattelan propelled the evolution of figurative sculpture into the 21st century.

Figurative sculptures can be whimsical, uncanny and beautiful. Their materials range from stone and wood to metal and delicate ceramics. Even in smaller sizes, the sculptures make bold statements. A bronze sculpture by Salvador Dalí enhances a room; a statuesque bull by Jacques Owczarek depicts strength with its broad chest while its thin legs speak of fragility. Figurative sculptures allow viewers to see what is possible when life is reimagined.

Browse 1stDibs for an extensive collection of figurative sculptures and find the next addition to your collection.