Camille Henrot, a French interdisciplinary artist known for her dynamic and diverse body of work, has expanded her presence in New York with multiple new projects this year. Renowned for blending mediums such as film, sculpture, installation, digital collage, and performance, Henrot continues to challenge traditional artistic boundaries as she enters a mature phase of her career.

This spring, Henrot presented a new film titled “In the Veins” at the New Museum, where she resides and works. The 30-minute piece explores themes of motherhood and humanity, contrasting intimate scenes of caregiving with broader reflections on ecological crisis and technological intervention. The film follows the trajectory of her earlier acclaimed work “Grosse Fatigue” (2013), a celebrated video art piece that won her the Silver Lion emerging artist award at the Venice Biennale.

Alongside this, Henrot opened her first public exhibition in New York with a year-long installation in Central Park, hosted by the Public Art Fund. The installation features a series of twelve dog sculptures crafted from bronze, concrete, and cut stone. These figures highlight themes of care and everyday life through a melding of high formalism and playful, approachable aesthetics.

Henrot’s engagement with performance art continues with the upcoming New York run of her first play, “Commedia dell’arte,” which will be staged at the Florence Gould Theater as part of the Performa Biennial festival. The slapstick comedy debuted earlier this year at the Aspen Art Museum and examines social dynamics through the lens of a group of tenants confronting a greedy landlord in a New York apartment building. Henrot co-wrote the play with Australian essayist Estelle Hoy and American playwright Justine Gelfman, addressing issues of class and social precarity through a modern adaptation of the traditional Italian commedia dell’arte theatrical form.

Though the play embraces humor and absurdity, Henrot maintained meticulous control during rehearsals, guiding actors to embody a “cartoon made flesh.” Her work often juxtaposes the sublime and the mundane, combining scholarly research with a playful sensibility. Critics have noted her reluctance to be confined to a singular medium or style, a trait some view as a lack of a definitive artistic signature, while others praise the diversity and layered complexity of her output.

Henrot’s artistic approach frequently engages with subjects such as the human-animal divide, gender fluidity, and the pervasive impact of digital information. Her personal background, including a librarian grandmother and a taxidermist mother, informs her interest in data, taxonomy, and the intersections between care and control.

Collaborators such as Jacob Bromberg and Estelle Hoy contribute writings that mesh with Henrot’s visual and performative works, underscoring her collaborative and interdisciplinary methodology. Henrot herself describes her English-language writing as childlike, reflecting a willingness to embrace vulnerability and experimentation.

Her expanded New York presence, marked by exhibitions in major museum spaces, public installations, and live theater, underscores her restless creative energy and commitment to exploring a broad artistic spectrum. As noted by Massimiliano Gioni, director of the New Museum, Henrot has navigated the complexities of sudden acclaim with determination, evolving her practice into a mature dialogue between playfulness and discipline.

In her recent projects, Henrot continues to probe the intersections of tenderness and humor, ecological concern, and social critique, crafting experiences that invite audiences to reconsider the everyday alongside the extraordinary.