A multidisciplinary artist creating airy, dynamic sculptures that evoke natural growth, organic patterns, and the cycles of life.
| Medium | Inox , glazed ceramic |
|---|---|
| Location | France Montreuil |
| Date of birth | 1956 |
Antoine Petel is a painter and multidisciplinary artist who conceives his sculptures as living forms—light, dynamic, and continuously unfolding in space. By combining stainless steel with ceramic elements, he creates airy, linear structures that evoke cycles of genesis, growth, and disappearance.
Rooted in drawing, his practice begins with a line that extends into space, becoming both structure and expression. These lines intertwine, bend, and expand into forms that exist between figuration and abstraction—suggestive of organic life without directly representing it, allowing meaning to remain open and fluid.
Petel’s work reflects a process akin to morphogenesis: a form emerging from a point, unfolding into line, and developing into structure. It embodies the idea of a germinating void—where something gradually takes shape, occupies space, and becomes materially present.
Drawing inspiration from biology, natural systems, and thinkers such as Ernst Haeckel, Karl Blossfeldt, and Emanuele Coccia, his work explores the fundamental question of what it means to be alive. His sculptures echo natural patterns—spirals, branching systems, and network-like structures—expressing the richness and complexity of living forms.
Color plays a vital role in his practice, enhancing sensory perception and reinforcing the material presence of the work. Whether through delicate linear compositions or more expansive structures punctuated with color, his sculptures balance fragility and vitality.
Petel’s work ultimately functions as a mirror—reflecting our own existence. It embraces both the seriousness and the joy of life, while illuminating the fragility, precarity, and quiet wonder of being alive.
Curriculum vitae
Solo Exhibitions
2024 〈Silence and Humus〉, Studio Gallery, École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris, France
2023 〈Blooming〉, Galerie Liusa Wang, Paris, France
2021 〈Rising Sap〉, Atelier Blanc, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, France
2019 〈Crystals and Pollen〉, Galerie Mansard, Paris, France
2017 〈The Charm of Form: Variation and Apical Cells〉, Galerie Mansard, Paris, France
2017 〈Natural History〉 (Drawings), Galerie Galearte, Paris, France
2016 〈Topology〉, Galerie B.Y. Chatel, Paris, France
2015 〈Fertile Entanglement〉, Le Pavé d’Orsay, Paris, France
2015 〈Connections〉, E. & A. Metzger Exhibition Space, Paris, France
2012 Galerie Design, Paris, France
2011 Théâtre de la Ville du Havre, Le Havre, France
2009 Julio Gonzalez Municipal Gallery, Arcueil, France
2007 MAC 2000, Espace Champerret, Paris, France
2007 〈Sap〉, Robert Desnos Library, Montreuil, France
2006 〈Union of Forms〉, Chapelle Saint-Jacques, Vendôme, France
2005 〈Art in Churches〉, France
2002 ENS-LSH (École Normale Supérieure de Lyon), Lyon, France
1999 〈Uncertain Destiny〉, Galerie Corinne Caminade, Paris, France
1997 〈Song of Questions〉, Galerie Corinne Caminade, Paris, France
1990 Cultural Center of Massy, France
1989 Cultural Center of Courbevoie, France
1984 〈Le Lucernaire〉, Paris, France
1983 〈La Galerie〉, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2025 〈Matéria〉, Nopoto 2025, Paris, France
2025 〈What Remains〉, La Fabrica, Paris, France
2024 〈Mirror〉, La Fabrica, Paris, France
2022 〈Cahors Juin Jardins〉 Contemporary Art Festival, Cahors, France
2019 Salon Start, Strasbourg, France
2019 〈Anatomy〉, La Fabrica, Paris, France
2018 〈Natural History〉, La Fabrica, Paris, France
2017 Affordable Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium
2016 Affordable Art Fair, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2015 Affordable Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium
2007 〈Urban Art〉, Louviers, France
2007 International Sculpture Competition (Finalist Model Exhibition), Reims, France
2003 Sculpture Trail, Gigondas, France
2002 〈Natural History〉, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
2001 〈Around the Land〉, Galerie Corinne Caminade, Paris, France
1996 Salon de Montrouge, France
1995 Salon de Montrouge, France
1990 Paris – Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France
1990 Salon Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
1989 Salon Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
1988 Salon Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
1987 Salon Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
1986 Salon Jeune Peinture, Paris, France
1985 Salon Jeune Peinture / Salon de Vitry, Paris, France
