Jean-Michel Othoniel

Jean-Michel Othoniel is a contemporary artist born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne (France). He lives and works in Paris.

Biography[]

An artist who has a passion for all sorts of metamorphoses, sublimations and transmutations, Jean-Michel Othoniel has a predilection for materials with reversible properties. Othoniel first gained recognition with a series of sculptures made of sulfur, exhibited at Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992.

In 1993, Jean-Michel Othoniel introduced glass into his work and began to explore its properties. Transformations, mutations of materials, and rites of passage from one state to another echo an essential rite in the artist’s work: that of journeys and memory.

In 1994, he participated in the exhibition Féminin/Masculin at the Pompidou Center in Paris, with an installation entitled My Beautiful Closet, a mise-en-scène of dancers filmed in the darkness of a closet.

In 1996, Othoniel hung gigantic necklaces in the bamboo gardens of the Villa Medici in Rome, and later in the trees of the Venetian garden of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (1997), and at the Alhambra and Generalife, in Granada (1999). Similar to a forbidden fruit, the necklace has a life in and of itself: it merges into the landscape and the leaves, like organic outgrowths absorbing shadows and diffracting light. The notion of wound or injury is at the heart of his work. In 1997, Othoniel created Collier Cicatrice, a small necklace made of red glass that the artist offers to whoever wants to wear it with pride.

In 2000, a century after Hector Guimard, Jean-Michel Othoniel transformed the Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre into the Kiosque des Noctambules: two crowns made of glass and aluminum conceal a bench designed for chance encounters in the sleepy city.

In 2003, Jean-Michel Othoniel conceived Crystal Palace for the Cartier Foundation in Paris and for MOCA in Miami. For Crystal Palace, he asked in Venice and at Marseille’s CIRVA to create forms that would ultimately become enigmatic sculptures standing between jewelry, architecture and erotic objects.

In December 2004 in art, at the Théâtre de la Ville in Rochefort and later at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Jean-Michel Othoniel staged Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Ane, an installation composed of four lacquered wooden sideboards, surmounted by thirty-five glass-filled models, and as many globes or huge vertugadins embroidered with gold and sequins. This installation was conceived as a decor for the tiny puppets that Pierre Loti used to play with as a child, and that Othoniel discovered in the house of this famous French writer. Also in 2004, for the exhibition Contrepoint at the Louvre Museum, Jean-Michel Othoniel set his works in the museum’s spectacular Mesopotamian rooms. His monumental glass and aluminum sculptures, which are always created in relation to the places in which they are shown, acquire a timeless and peaceful dimension. The great white river of pearls adorned with nipples, which was purchased by the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, is now on view in the museum’s new collection display.

Kin no Kokoro, Tokyo, 2012

For the Unlimited Section at Art Basel 2005, Jean-Michel Othoniel showed The Boat of Tears in a pool located in front of the fair. The artist, whose works often combine the political and the intimate, salvaged a boat built by Cuban boat people and abandoned on the shores of Miami and used it as a basis for his work. A crown, chains and necklaces made of colored glass taper down into giant tears of clear crystal. The sculpture floats on the water like a ghost ship, loaded with tears of suffering and joy, overflowing with memories and covered by festive ornaments.

The artist has progressively built up a world based on ultimate freedom and the acceptance of the reversible, a world characterizing his personality. His work takes on a variety of forms: drawings, sculptures, photographs, narratives, choreography and video. His streamlined works are steeped in poetry and eroticism.

Les Belles Danses, Versailles, 2015

In 2011, an important exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou Paris presenting the entire gamut of his artistic practice retraced his career. This exhibition, “My Way”, was then staged at the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art/Plateau, Seoul, at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, at the Macao Museum of Art, Macao, and at the Brooklyn Museum of New York. In 2012 an invitation from the Musée Delacroix in Paris offered an opportunity to instigate a dialog with this studio-museum laden with history, by means of a series of sculptures and plates from his Herbier Merveilleux. In spring 2013, the Mori Art Museum of Tokyo has ordered from him a new piece of work for its 10th anniversary, Kin no Kokoro, a monumental work of art located in the Japanese Garden Mohri Garden. On March 12, 2015, Jean-Michel Othoniel will open a new exhibit, Secret Flower Sculptures, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, that will then travel to San Francisco in Autumn. In May 2015, Jean-Michel Othoniel revealed Les Belles Danses, three sculptures installed on the ponds of the new Water Theatre grove created by the landscape designer Louis Benech. The design was inspired by a dance script that the artist found in Raoul Auger Feuillet’s book Choregraphie, ou, L’art de décrire la dance, par caracteres, figures, et signes démonstratifs (1700). ^[1] It will be the first permanent commission in the gardens of the Palace since Louis XVI.

Public collections[]

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA^[2]
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée d'Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Fondation Cartier Pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
New Orleans Museum of Art, La Nouvelle-Orléans, USA
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
The Corning Museum of Glass, New York, USA
New York Public Library, New York, USA
FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, France
FRAC Aquitaine, France
Musée d'Art moderne de Saint-Étienne, Saint-Etienne, France
Chanel Hong Kong, Chine
Chanel Los Angeles, USA
Filmoteca universitaria de Barcelona, Barcelone, Espagne
Métro de Toulouse, France
Lycée Arthur Rimbaud, Amiens, France
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada
Kirchner Cultural Center, Argentina

Solo Shows[]

2016

CRAC Sète, France.

2015

Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.
836 Montgomery St., San Francisco, United States.
"Secret Flower Sculptures" Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, United States.

2014

"DNA of Love", Karuizawa New Art Museum, Karuizawa, Japan.
"Jean-Michel Othoniel", Hôtel-Dieu, Puy-en-Velay, France.
"Monumental Sculptures", Galerie Perrotin, Hong Kong, China.
"Othoniel", Atelier Cézanne, Aix-en-Provence, France.

2013

"Othoniel, Jewel Boxes", Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, United States.
"Les Nœuds de Babel", Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France.

2012

"Othoniel", L&M Gallery, New York, United States.
"My Way", Brooklyn Museum, New York, United States.
"Othoniel", Frieder Burda Museum, Baden Baden, Germany.
"My Way", Museum of Art of Macau, Macau, China.
"À bruit secret", Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany.
"My Way" and "Le Réel merveilleux", Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan.

2011

"My Way", Leeum Samsung Museum of Art/ Plateau, Seoul, South Korea.
"L’Herbier merveilleux", Château royal de Provence, Tarascon, France.
"My Way", Galeries du Musée, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, France.
"Le Réel merveilleux", Galerie des Enfants, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, France.

2010

"The Precious Stonewall", Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India.
"Jean-Michel Othoniel", Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea.

2009

"Les Nœuds de Janus", Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France.
"Un Cœur abstrait", Pavillon Bosio, École Supérieure d’Arts Plastiques de la Ville de Monaco, Monaco, France.
"L’Herbier Merveilleux", Château de Courson, Courson Montloup, France.
"La Couronne de la nuit", ARTE, Strasbourg, France.
"Othoniel, New Sculptures", Galerie Karsten Greve, Saint-Moritz, Switzerland.

2008

"Jean-Michel Othoniel", Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne, Germany.
"L’Herbier merveilleux", Château de Courson, Courson Montloup, France.
"L’Herbier merveilleux", Chapelle Saint-Martin du Méjan, Arles, France.
"Le Feu de la Saint-Jean", Galerie Saint-Séverin, Paris, France.
"L’Édredon cellulique", Musée du Feutre, Mouzon, France.
"Diary of Happiness", Galerie Perrotin, Miami, United States.
"Secret Americana", Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Gallery, New York, United States.

2007

"Les Larmes de Couleurs" (public commission), Lycée Arthur Rimbaud, Amiens, France
"Le Confident", (public commission), Square Lépine, Nice, France
"Le Rideau d’Or", Chanel, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California
"Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Âne", Palais de Dolmabahçe, X° Biennale d’Istanbul, Turkey
"Le Coffre à Secrets", Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France

2006

"Peggy's necklace", Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
"Dessins" Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
"Le Collier Blanc", permanent installation, Chanel, Hong Kong, Japon
"Epée de l'Académicien de M. Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière", installation in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

2005

"Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Ane", Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris
"Candélabres", permanent installation, Villa Amistà, Vérone, Italy

2004

"House of Glass", MOCA, Miami, USA
"Le petit théatre de Peau d'âne», Othoniel/Loti, Maison Pierre Loti et Théatre de la coupe d'or, Rochefort, France.
"Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Ane", Musée-Atelier département du verre de Sars-Poterie, Lille, France

2003

"Black is beautiful", Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris (with Sophie Calle)
"Lagrimas", Musée d'art moderne de Saint-Etienne, France
"L'arbre aux colliers", permanent installation in the sculpture garden Sidney Besthoff, New Orleans Museum of Modern Art, La Nouvelle Orléans, USA
"La Tombe de Jean Lafont", permanent installation, Le Cailar, France
"Crystal Palace", Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris
"Fragile", FRAC Champagne Ardenne, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims

2002

"Pluie d'Or", Sala la Gallera, Valencia, Spain
"Lagrimas", Museo del Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico

2001

"Collier", Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium
"Parade", Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, La Nouvelle Orléans, USA
"La fontaine du Plaisir et des Larmes", Galerie Pièce Unique, Paris

2000

"Le Kiosque des Noctambules", permanent installation at the Métro Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre, Place Colette, Paris
"Jean-Michel Othoniel", dutacion de Granada, Palacio de los Condes de Gabia, Grenada, Spain

1999

"A shadow in your Window", Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
"Les Amants Suspendus", Galerie Clara Rainhorn, Bruxelles, Belgium
"Trésor", Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, USA
"Jean-Michel Othoniel", Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain

1998

ARCO, Galerie Barbara Farber, Madrid
"PS1", Contemporary Art Center, New-York
Yves Saint Laurent 88 wooster, New York
Sculpture in the Dark, "La Folle Journée du Piano", Hippodrome du Douai, France

1997

Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy
Musée des Art Décoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris, France
Galerie Senda, Barcelona, Spain

1996

"The Wishing Wall", Galerie Arndt & Partner, Berlin

1995

Gramercy Park Hotel, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, New York
"XIe olympiades nationales de la chimie", Maison de la chimie, Paris
"Scratch and Tits Paintings", Galerie Barbara Farber, Amsterdam, Netherlands
"Le Ballet de l'Innommable", Proton ICA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
"Les Innommables", Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris
"Le Ballet de l'Innommable", (performance), Les Soirées Nomades, Fondation

Cartier, Paris

Villa Médicis, Rome, Italy
"L.A. International", Viennial Invitational, Kohn-Turner Gallery, Los Angeles

1994

"Il était beau comme la rencontre fortuite d'un parapluie et d'une machine à coudre

sur une table de dissection", (film-performance), ARC, musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

"Le Jaune de Soufre", Galerie d'Art de Mourenx, France

1993

Galerie Nicole Klagsbrun, New York
"Los Angeles International", Michael Kohn, Los Angeles
Museo d'Historia de la Medicina de Catalunya, Galeria Senda, Barcelone, Spain
"L'Hermaphrodite", Musée d'Art moderne de Saint-Étienne, France

1992

Galerie des Arènes, Musée d'Art contemporain de la Ville de Nîmes, France
"Rideau", installation on the stage of the theater of the Ferme Dubuisson,

chorégraphie de Daniel Larrieu, Marne-la-Vallée, France

Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, France
"Lauréat de la Villa Médicis Hors les Murs", Madrid, Spain

1991

"Capotes !", Centre Genevois de Gravure Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland

1990

L'Instituto Francese di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
"Das Lapidarium", Kunstlerhaus BethanienBerlin
Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris

1989

"A Travers le Grand Vide Critique", Galerie Antoine Candau, Paris
"SAGA Grand Palais", Galerie Antoine Candau, Paris

1988

"FIAC", Galerie Antoine Candau, Paris

Group exhibitions[]