Nottingham Contemporary

Marguerite Humeau has described herself as an “Indiana Jones in Google times.” The London-based French artist's work embarks on epic quests in time and space. FOXP2 is her first major solo show in the UK. Humeau's new works grew out of conversations with zoologists and other experts. One sound installation takes the form of a “choir” of 108 billion voices, re-enacting the moment when a gene – FOXP2 – mutated, allowing our ancestors to develop language. This leads on to what Humeau calls a “biological showroom” of elephants, engaged in an elaborate mourning ritual. The installations take us back to the origins of life, while also imagining a future without us. FOXP2 has been conceived by the Palais de Tokyo, where it opened in June 2016. The exhibition presented here is a collaboration between Nottingham Contemporary and the Palais de Tokyo.