Marine Oussedik

Marine Oussedik (born May 20, 1967), is a French painter, sculptor and an illustrator specialized in horses. In 1990, she graduated from ESAG Penninghen, and started exhibiting in Parisian galleries the following year. Subsequently, Living Museum of the Horse in Chantilly commissioned several of her paintings to be permanently displayed in two rooms of the museum. She is also an author of several books including, Les chevaux d'encre, Les chevaux du Sahara, Les chevaux du vent (2002), and Les chevaux de rois (2003). in 2004, Pégases awarded her with Prix Pégase for her books: Les chevaux du vent (2002), and Les chevaux de rois (2003). In 2014, she illustrated an art book dedicated to classical French riding written by Guillaume Henry.

As a sculptor she showed her first bronze casts in 1996. Over time, her work expanded into different mediums, creating designs for collections of Gien earthenware called "Horses of the Wind" and "Horses of the Sun" or as a regular contributor for Belin publishing. She mainly works using ink, no models. Her works have been exhibited internationally, such as in Switzerland, England, the United States, the United Arab Emirates and China. In 2010 a major retrospective exhibition of her works was held at Saint Jean castle in Nogent-le-Rotrou, now a museum. Art reviewers have often praised the elegance of her stroke, the delicacy, the accuracy of anatomy, the movement and dream like quality expressed in her works.

Biography Oussedik has dedicated her life to horses whether through art or in her daily horse-riding.

Early life and education Oussedik was born on May 20, 1967, in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Her mother was from Picardy and her father was a Kabyle. She was first introduced to horses when she was five years old, riding ponies in Paris, at the Luxembourg garden. From then on she began drawing horses and would never stop depicting them. When a child she used to run to the balcony of the family flat in Paris whenever she heard the clattering of hooves as the Republican Guard were riding by. However she really started equestrianism when she was ten, following her elder sister who took her to Neuilly's riding-school. Apart from her sister, nobody in her family was especially interested in horses nor rode them.

Oussedik went on studying, "filling her notebooks with horse drawings", to the point of the margin took over the writing space. She spent all her childhood in Paris but regularly escaped to the country, to the family house in Picardy. She contemplated becoming a veterinarian as her grandfather, a vocation which explains her interest in the anatomy and morphology of horses. However she wasn't good enough at mathematics. She instead enrolled at the Pennighen Higher College of Graphic Arts where she was a student for five years, centering her work on the world of horses. She graduated after presenting a humoresque booklet about horse races

First exhibitions In 1991 Oussedik exhibited her work for the first time in the form of ink drawings in a gallery in the VIth arrondissement of Paris. As a result of this Amaury de Louvencourt, owner of La Cymaise gallery, rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, discovered her works and invited her to prepare an exhibition. That was the beginning of a long collaboration. The founder of the Living Museum of the Horse, Yves Bienaimé, discovered her art in Equus magazine. He then asked her for works to be permanently displayed in two rooms of the museum. The first room was dedicated to Arabian horses in Arabian proverbs (in 1993) and the second one (in 1995) to the horse shows as performed within the Museum. According to Yves Bienaimé, the Arabian proverbs room "soon became one of the most beautiful and most popular room in the Museum". It presents a selection of Arabian proverbs dedicated to Arabian horses.

Recognition From 1992 on, Oussedik has presented her work several times internationally, She contributed to various books for different publishers and to equestrian magazines such as "Cheval pratique". In 2002 she hosted a presentation of her works about horses, followed by a workshop at the Arab World Institute in Paris; her book Les chevaux du vent, oiseaux sans ailes, was published at the same time.

In 2004 she was awarded the prix Pégase (Pegasus literary prize) by the Academy for the Advancement of Equestrian Culture (ACDE). She became a member of the academy and created the Pegasus prize trophy the following year. She has also created trophies for the Arabian Horse World Championship at the Paris Salon du Cheval (Horse Fair), including the Most Beautiful Head Trophy. In 2010, a retrospective of 20 years of work was held at Saint-Jean museum and castle in Nogent-le-Rotrou during the sixth "Variations Équines" (equine variations) which was dedicated, for the first time, to a sole artist. In 2014 she created new designs for Gien earthenware in the form of the collection "Horses of the Sun", dedicated to Portuguese horses. In October 2014 a fine book of art, the first dedicated to classical French riding, will be published by Belin, Une histoire de l'équitation française (An History of French Riding). Oussedik made about a hundred of drawings to illustrate the texts written by Guillaume Henry. Those original drawings will be exhibited at the Cadre Noir of Saumur (during the AR(T)CHEVAL festival) from October 16 to November 9 and at Equita'Lyon show from October 29 to November 2.

Horse-riding

Oussedik is also a rider who favors classical dressage. She lives with her two horses on her family estate in Picardy.

Sculptures For Oussedik the art of sculpture and that of drawing are complementary both needing to be "as exact as possible whatever the position of the horse". First the model is cast in earth or wax. Because of the fragile balance of the horse (a mass on thin legs) a framework and a support are required. Once the model is finished, it is molded and twelve bronze casts can be made before the molding is destroyed.

Tableware and toys The first collection she created for Gien earthenware, "Horses of the Wind", revolves around Arabian horses.

Oussedik believes that her pictorial art can't be separated from her equestrian art, that being an artist relies on a daily routine necessary to train one's hand whatever the gifts you are born with. That's why she is drawing daily, otherwise she feels " bored and missing something ". She thinks that work and passion are inseparable as symbolized by Stendhal's quote on her desk. Her artistic style has matured towards volume. In the early part of her career, her works appeared as silhouettes of horses which, as time passes by, become three-dimensional and full-bodied. Oussedik started sculpting in 1996 a logical step in her artistic career. What she learned from sculpting she used while drawing. Her studio in Picardy brings her the peace of mind and the light she needs to create. She made illustrations of Jerez Royal Riding School, Spanish carriages "a la calasera" and bull fighting for the exhibition "Horses from the South" at La Cymaise gallery late 2002.

Critical reception Today her works are quite well-known all over the world. Their unique style is her signature. The accuracy of anatomy and their delicacy, especially when made with ink, have been widely noticed by art reviewers: "Thanks to her very accurate lines, the horses that Marine Oussedik shows us are not domesticated but tamed", says one of them. Blaise de Chabalier, art reviewer for the French national daily Le Figaro, mentions the "sophisticated and sensual atmosphere created by the complicity of bodies and looks", the dreamlike quality of her drawings allied to a realistic approach, when liberty of movement meets civilisation as expressed through harnessing. Xavier Viader in the racing daily Paris-Turf defines her work as " elegant, spontaneous and alive " and sees her as a descendant of Géricault and Delacroix, adding that the accuracy of anatomy is no obstacle to the emotional quest of the viewer. Indeed, Marine Oussedik's horses are fiery. After reading Les chevaux du vent, writer Jérôme Garcin dedicated a paragraph to her in his book Journal équestre: "as an illustrator, she demonstrated a dual skill: her ink brush has an almost ethological accuracy but she keeps us dreaming. Arabian horses are the source of her inspiration. With pride and tenderness she makes them dance, play, fight, parade and fly towards Allah's sky. Abdallah Akbar's calligraphy follows this meditation and we don't know when the writing stops and the drawing starts." – Jérôme Garcin, Cavalier seul.

According to the art magazine Equus, other artists have tried to imitate her art but none have managed to succeed.