Mary Stephenson, Candida Desideri, Lou Stoppard, Wet Proof, cover, impermeable book, 14 x 14 x 2,5 cm, published by Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle – MBAL, 2026. Design by Atelier CIAO, Switzerland
Book tickets
Celebrating the publication of Wet Proof, curators and writers Lou Stoppard and Federica Chiocchetti are joined by artist Mary Stephenson to explore the themes behind the book and exhibition, including water, memory and the unconscious.
Published by Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle (MBAL) to mark the exhibition For One Solid Time, Wet: The Swimming Pool in the Imagination, Wet Proof is a waterproof artist’s book designed to be read in water, much like children’s bath books. Both a keepsake and an artwork in its own right, the publication reimagines the traditional exhibition catalogue, bringing together original artwork by Stephenson and a new work of fiction co-written by Candida Desideri (Federica Chiocchetti) and Stoppard.
Published by Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle (MBAL) to mark the exhibition For One Solid Time, Wet: The Swimming Pool in the Imagination, Wet Proof is a waterproof artist’s book designed to be read in water, much like children’s bath books. Both a keepsake and an artwork in its own right, the publication reimagines the traditional exhibition catalogue, bringing together original artwork by Stephenson and a new work of fiction co-written by Candida Desideri (Federica Chiocchetti) and Stoppard.
Bios
Lou Stoppard is a London-based writer and curator. Her books include a survey of the work of street photographer Shirley Baker, published by Mack in 2019; Pools, an exploration of swimming in photography, published by Rizzoli in 2020; and Exteriors: Annie Ernaux and Photography, published by Mack in 2024, to time with an exhibition of the same name which she curated at MEP, Paris. She has written for The Financial Times, Aperture, The New York Times and The New Yorker. Her fiction has appeared in publications including Five Stories for Philip Guston, published by Printed Matter in 2024.
Federica Chiocchetti is a curator, writer and scholar. She was Director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts Le Locle (MBAL), Switzerland, from 2022 to 2026, where she developed transdisciplinary and transhistorical exhibitions and collaborations with institutions including Fondazione Monte Verità, Cabaret Voltaire and Les Nouveaux Commanditaires. Previously, through her editorial and curatorial platform Photocaptionist, she collaborated with institutions, festivals, fairs and publications including the V&A, Jeu de Paume, Aperture, L’Uomo Vogue, Paris Photo and Tokyo Photo Festival. She holds a PhD on image-text intersections from the University of Westminster and an MA in complit from University College London. Since May 2026, she has been in charge of the artistic and cultural programme at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris.
Mary Stephenson (b. 1989, London) is a London-based artist. Her paintings use saturated fields of colour and subtle forms to evoke fabric, architecture, interiors and sites of memory, often shifting between contrasting scales and spatial arrangements. She graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2011 and the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2023. Her work is held in the Loewe Art Collection, Madrid, and the Government Art Collection, London. Recent solo exhibitions include Big Dance at Chapter NY, New York (2026); Mary! Go Round at White Cube, Paris (2025); Heart Throbs at Chapter NY, New York (2024); and Soft Footing at MASSIMODECARLO, Paris (2024). In 2026, Maureen Paley presented her first exhibition at the gallery, Hue, a two-person exhibition with Dirk Stewen.
Book tickets
Thu, 08 Oct 2026
Upper Gallery
06:30 pm
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Mary Stephenson, All of Our Walls, 2026, 190 × 260 cm (74 3/4 × 102 3/8 in), oil on linen. © Mary Stephenson. Courtesy Chapter NY, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
Mary Stephenson, Green Chairs, 2023, 170 × 200 cm (66.9 × 78.7 in), oil on linen. © Mary Stephenson. Courtesy Chapter NY, New York, and Maureen Paley, London.
