Events / Exhibitions

Focus

Focus on Fabien Petiot

Mars 2021

Mouvements Modernes

Born in 1979, Fabien Petiot lives and works into Utrecht and Paris. Since 2013, Fabien Petiot has been developing projects and des­ ign pieces at the crossroads of industry and craftsmanship. The unique aesthetic that emerges from his work undoubtedly cornes from the constant dialogue he maintains between his practice as a product designer, and his training as an art historian: his indepth expertise on technical processes and materials, crosses his great knowledge of the history of art and design, giving Fabien Petiot’s profile as well as his work, their particularcharacter in the contem­ porary design landscape.

Fabien Petiot Design studio’s work is divided between experimen­ tal projects, public and private commissions, unique pieces or lim­ ited series that he creates for renowned interior designers and col­ lectors.Thus, edited since 2017 by the gallery, Fabien exhibits his pieces within the framework of prestigious internationalfairs such as the PAO Paris and PAO London or The Salon (New York), as well as group show that Mouvements Modernes gallery curates regularly in Paris.

Beside the prestigious and high quality bespoke production of his Parisian studio, Fabien Petiot founded Beau Travail in 2020 in The Netherlands where he recently settled to develop industrial design projects. Beau Travail produced its own collections of objects in unlimited series that are accessible to a wide audience.

Apart from the lithophany technique (engraved pattern onto porcelain), porcelain has been little reinterpreted as a light filter for this sconces. The pattern issue and its emergence are tackled here on the basis of the mate­ rial itself.
ln order to make a fiat shape out of porcelain, a structuring « heel » is re­ quired. By moving the plastic injection technique to the field of porcelain,the network of thick lines serves both as a structure (like the heel under a plate) and a pattern. On the back of this sup­ ported by a brushed brass structure late, the progressively dense lines ac­ company light diffusion. Combining leading-edge technology and craft know-how, this wall light associates the precision of CNC milling used to create the mold with the deformations related to thevagaries of porcelainfiring

Each Fabien Petiot’s work is part of a narrative that unfolds in several chapters, over a long period, in the form ofwrittings ; but also objects, lights and furniture. Na­ ture, as an endless source of wonderment and inspiration, occupies a central place in the designer’screations : the growth of a black bamboo stem (‘Pli’), a ribbed leaf (‘Biscuit’), the navel of a bumpy belly or the wave of a shimmering puddle (‘Ombilic’) and ‘Vortex’). High artisanal know-how and advanced technologies were able to convey, with tlanet, the poetry of the living and its wide range of material aspects.

Presented by the gallery, the ‘Branches’ sideb oard was the first project of a wide range, called Clairière (‘Clearing’).Wether they are made of wood, metal, or clay, all these objects and pieces of furniture have the same gouged, engraved and scratched surface,evoking the bark of the tree they merge in, orfrorn wich they emerge from.

Nowadays the coffee table ‘Grume’ (‘Log’) unveils a second opus of the Clairière series. The seemingly fragile lay-out, like a game of balance, contrasts with the robustness of its three volumes. lt looks like an acci­ dentai sculpture wich has been left by a too rushed trimmer in the woods. Stumps and trunks now form a piece of furniture wich is both functional and sculptural.