Exhibition
2024
Fabienne Verdier
Born in 1962 in Paris.
Lives and works in Hédouville.
Galerie Lelong & Co Paris
Lives and works in Hédouville.
Galerie Lelong & Co Paris
After graduating from the Fine Arts school in Toulouse in 1983, Fabienne Verdier continued her studies in China, where she immersed herself in the teachings of the last masters at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing during the particular context of the post-Cultural Revolution era. In 1989, she became the first foreigner to graduate from this prestigious university. She served as a cultural attaché for the French embassy in China for two years and authored the book "Passagère du silence," translated into six languages. This decade in China deeply influenced her, notably inspiring her iconic use of oversized calligraphy brushes.
Throughout her career, Verdier’s work has been both confronted with and enriched by a variety of aesthetic movements (Italian Quattrocento, Flemish Primitives, abstract expressionism, American minimalism) and diverse artistic practices. These include stained glass art at Saint-Laurent Church in Nogent-sur-Marne, exploring the interplay of sound and painting at the Juilliard School in New York, and visual and abstract experiments related to language for the fiftieth anniversary edition of the Petit Robert Dictionary.
Today, Fabienne Verdier is an artist of international stature, with works featured in numerous public and private collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée Cernuschi, Kunsthaus Zurich, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the City Hall of Hong Kong, and the Pinault Collection.
From January 17 to March 9, 2024, the agency—in partnership with Galerie Lelong & Co— has showcased the "Rainbows"series, created during the COVID-19 pandemic. This series of 13 large-scale canvases, displayed in the architecture models Gallery in the heart of the agency and inspired by Mathias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (1516), represents a collection of visual experiments on cosmic phenomena and the luminous auras produced by the death of a star. Each piece is named after an entity associated with the sky, stars, or light.
Throughout her career, Verdier’s work has been both confronted with and enriched by a variety of aesthetic movements (Italian Quattrocento, Flemish Primitives, abstract expressionism, American minimalism) and diverse artistic practices. These include stained glass art at Saint-Laurent Church in Nogent-sur-Marne, exploring the interplay of sound and painting at the Juilliard School in New York, and visual and abstract experiments related to language for the fiftieth anniversary edition of the Petit Robert Dictionary.
Today, Fabienne Verdier is an artist of international stature, with works featured in numerous public and private collections, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Musée Cernuschi, Kunsthaus Zurich, Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the City Hall of Hong Kong, and the Pinault Collection.
From January 17 to March 9, 2024, the agency—in partnership with Galerie Lelong & Co— has showcased the "Rainbows"series, created during the COVID-19 pandemic. This series of 13 large-scale canvases, displayed in the architecture models Gallery in the heart of the agency and inspired by Mathias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (1516), represents a collection of visual experiments on cosmic phenomena and the luminous auras produced by the death of a star. Each piece is named after an entity associated with the sky, stars, or light.
Architecture plays a special role in Verdier’s career. In addition to the monumental nature of many of her canvases and the immersive quality of her visual and sonic works, she has collaborated on several architectural projects, including with Jean Nouvel for the National Art Museum of China in Beijing (2013) and Jean-Paul Viguier for the lobby of Tour Majunga in La Défense (2014).
She has also formed a deep friendship with Denis Valode, who designed her "studio-laboratory" in Hédouville in 2006. This custom-built creative space, integrated into the local architecture, features a 6m by 6m pit topped by a single skylight—the only opening in the space. The design centers around a massive suspended "pendulum brush" that interacts with the gravitational axis.
She has also formed a deep friendship with Denis Valode, who designed her "studio-laboratory" in Hédouville in 2006. This custom-built creative space, integrated into the local architecture, features a 6m by 6m pit topped by a single skylight—the only opening in the space. The design centers around a massive suspended "pendulum brush" that interacts with the gravitational axis.
Nils-Udo