Through diverse practice including film, installation, performance and photography, Matthieu Charneau examines the symbolic and emotional aspects of situations and places, personal history and collective memory.

One of his recurring themes is the nature of time. Fascinated by how and why a particular moment in time stands out and how it relates to specific points of arrival and departure, he foregrounds historical consciousness through a multiple focus on the present and crucial pasts.

How do twists and turns of individual fates fit into theories of time, place, and the meaning of human lives? By asking himself that question, his work becomes a balancing act between interconnectedness and the search of lost time.

Much like Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu”’, Charneau depicts his journey through an allegorical search for truth withmetaphors that enrich a collective pictorial language.

He often incorporates stills from Super 8 films and digital recordings into sequences, which appropriate cinema’s frame-by-frame format. More symbol and metaphor than narrative, it expresses Charneau’s need to remember and record how one fragment of a single moment in time leads to the next.

His preference for using available light, blurring and graininess has figures dissolving into shadow and film grain. They stand as timeless fragments of life, moments of intimacy, exploring the tension between idealism and existential realities.

The complexity of Matthieu Charneau’s work is as much about the cycle of creation, destruction and regeneration as it is about continuity and cosmic redundancy.

Matthieu was born in Châteauroux, France, and studied at the European Acting School, Cours Florent, in Paris.

He has made significant contributions to independent cinema and international films, including ‘Coelho Mau’ (‘Bad Bunny'), which premiered at the 70th Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Queer Palm. His role in ‘Um Fio De Baba Escarlate’ (‘Name Above Title’), a Giallo serial killer fever dream directed by Portuguese director Carlos Conceição, earned him the Best Actor CinEuphoria Award in a lead role. Both films, directed by Conceição, have won multiple awards across continents.

Matthieu's notable projects include Kurt Sutter’s FX drama series ‘The Bastard Executioner’, alongside Stephen Moyer and Katey Sagal, and the oracular short film ‘Les Nouvelles Folies Françaises’, directed by Thomas Blanchard.

As a model, Matthieu has collaborated with singer-songwriter Frank Ocean, artist duo Pierre et Gilles, and fashion photographers Ricardo Gomes and Nicolas Wagner. He has been featured in various publications such as Out, V, i-D, Les Inrockuptibles, BUTT, CRUSH, Citizen K, and Têtu.

Exploring his passion for filmmaking and performance art, Matthieu has directed short films and developed his photography. His artistic expression has expanded to include alcohol ink, collages, pastels, and other media.

Matthieu's work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at art galleries such as envoy enterprises, Empirical Nonsense, La MaMa, and the Feature Hudson Foundation in New York.

He is based in New York City.