A new milestone in the artist’s trajectory, the show “Modulations Domestiques” presents from April 16 to June 4, 2022 at Danysz Paris - Marais, the evolution of the work of Charles Pétillon in recent years, as a growing emphasis was placed on sculpture.
While his previous exhibitions at Danysz gallery allowed us to get acquainted with a poetic universe involving enigmatic white balloons in environments often devoid of human presence, with this new artistic proposition spanning original photographs and light sculptures, the artist brings about a yet unexplored “point of view,” to paraphrase the title of a work.
Building on the same minimalistic motif of the white sphere, Charles Pétillon enlarges his scope of intervention, moving from photographic set ups to physical, lasting installations with delicate shapes designed to be part of an interior. These new domestic-sized works are in line with many in situ projects set in cities like Beijing, Macau, Bordeaux, and more recently at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport with a monumental creation now hanging in one of the terminals.
“Modulations Domestiques” marks a major shift in the artist’s œuvre, with renewed underlying ideas. Whereas his invasions, as he calls them, used to play on accumulation and saturation, pushing boundaries of space and objects, his recent works rely on interaction. Their intent is to expand on architecture, engaging into a dialogue with it and underlining its specificities.
Influenced by land art, for a long time Charles Pétillon thought that the ephemeral nature of his installations was the only way to preserve their gentleness and poetry, and that switching to more permanent works would bring them back to their ordinary status as objects. His first creations of lasting, monumental works finally convinced him that this was not the case as demonstrated by his solo show “Modulations Domestiques” at Danysz Paris – Marais.
Born in 1973, Charles Pétillon is a French artist known for his creations at the crossroad of photography, installations and sculpture. His works have been presented in many important institutions such the Maison de la Photographie in Lille, France, the Sinnka Museum in Kerava, Finland, or the Times Art Museum in Beijing. Often solicited for projects in the public space, his large-scale in situ works include monumental installations at the Covent Garden in London, in Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, at the National Opera in Bordeaux, or in the French department Eure during Heritage Days 2021. He lives in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France.
