« The Hybridus Family »
RX Gallery, Paris, France
Born on April 30, 1964 in Paris. Lives and works in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Awarded a diploma in 1992 by the Superior National School of Fine art, Paris, France.
Bio
Solo exhibitions
-
2023
« Range ta chambre ! »
Saint Sauveur Station, Lille, France
The Hameau des Baux, Paradou, France -
2022
« The house of Maxitos »
Utopia, Ilôt Comtesse, Lille, France
« We’re flying away »
Maison Hermès display windows, Hong Kong, China
-
2021
« Lying house »
Public commission for the « Extatiques »
Paris La Défense, FranceSnail shells installation
Marc-Antoine Barrois–galerie Véro Dodat Paris, France -
2020
«How Nanitos are born »
RX Gallery Paris, France
« Treasure hunt »
Window display for Hermès in Dubai,UAE
-
2019
« Enchanted garden »
Autumn shop window
Maison Hermès Shanghai, China -
2018
« Beach castle »
Public order, Knokke-le Zoute, Belgium
-
2017
« The bees of Brussels »
Tournay-Solvay park, Brussels, Belgium.
-
2015
« Merci Louisette »
Galerie Mitterrand, Paris, France
Window display for Hermès in Tokyo, Japon
Production of a monumental giraffe for a cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas
Installation production for the restaurant Hexagone, Paris, France -
2014
« Merci Louisette »
MAMO, Marseille, France.
-
2012
Hermès Shop Window
Rue de Sèvres, Paris(6ème) France
-
2011
« Tombée du Ciel »
JF Fourtou, Aeroplastics
Brussels, BelgiumJF Fourtou
Pierre Budin School, Paris (18ème)
France -
2010
« Tombée du Ciel »
JF Fourtou, JGM. Galerie
Paris, France (cat.). -
2007
« Mes Maisons »
JGM. Galerie
Paris, France (cat.) -
2006
« Parasitage Nomade »
Galerie Anspach
Brussels, Belgium -
2005
Rinascente nuit blanche
Rome, Italy
Fourtou
Galerie Iconoscope
Montpellier, France -
2004
Fourtou
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France (cat.)Fourtou
Galerie Pièce Unique
Paris, France -
2003
Fourtou
Aéroplastics
Brussels, BelgiumGéant
La Verrière
Brussels, Belgium -
2001
Galerie Angel Romero
Madrid, SpainGalerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France -
1999
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France (cat.)Galerie Angel Romero
Madrid, Spain -
1997
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France -
1996
Galerie Angel Romero
Madrid, SpainTranshumance
French Institute of Madrid,
Spain -
1995
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France -
1993
« Animaux de galerie »
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France
Group exhibitions
-
2023
«Forever »
Pommery Experience #17 - One place, three exhibitions, Domaine Vranken-Pommery, Reims, France
« Grandeur Nature »
18 artists in the garden - Contemporary art tour, Château de Fontainebleau, France
-
2022
« The Cosmic Serpent »
Utopia, Hospice Comtesse Museum, Lille, France
-
2021
«Traversée »
RX Gallery Paris, France
« Blooming »
Le Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
-
2019
« Bêtes de Scène »
Villa Datris Foundation
L’Isle-sur-la Sorgue, France« Figures de l’animal »
Centre for contemporary art (CAC) Meymac
Meymac, France -
2018
«Le Beau, la Belle et la bête»
Rivau’s castle, France
-
2017
« Abstracted#1»
Aeroplastics, Brussels, Belgium
« Alice twisted Word »
OÖ Kulturquartier Linz, Austria
-
2016
« Tombée du ciel » Aéroplastics, Brussels, Belgique
« Design Shanghai », Shanghai, China
-
2015
Domaine du Muy, France
« Constructeurs d'absurde, bricoleurs d'utopie »,
CAC, Meymac, France
« Habiter », Domaine de Chamarande, France -
2012
« Art et Nature »
Jardin du Hauvel, Normandy, France
« Maison tombée du ciel », « Fantastic »
Lille 3000, Lille, France
-
2011
« Un Monde sans mesure »
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, France.
-
2010
« A Proposal for Articulating Works »
Commissaire Abdellah Karroum
Visual Arts Exhibition in the 3rd AiM International
Biennale, Marrakech, Morocco.« A Proposal for Articulating Works »
Palazzo Riso, Palermo, Italy
-
2009
« Un Monde sans Mesure»
Contemporary Art Museum, Sao Paulo
and Niemeyer Museum, Brasilia, Brazil.« Autres mesures »
(curator Cécile Bourne-Farrell)
Centre Photographique d'ïle-de-France
Pontault-Combault, France« Pas nécessaire et pourtant indispensable,
1979-2009: 30 ans d'art contemporain à Meymac»Abbaye Saint André, Centre d'art
contemporain de Meymac, France.« Un Monde sans Mesure»
Museu Nacional do Complexo da Republica
e Chancelado, Brasilia and Museu de Arte
Contemporânea da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. -
2008
« La Dégelée Rabelais »
FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier,
France (cat.).« Imago Mundi »
Iconoscope, Montpellier, France
-
2007
« Bêtes et Hommes »
Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France (cat.).
« House Trip »
(curator Ami Barak) Berlin, Germany (cat.).
« Rare Essence »
Aeroplastics contemporary, Brussels, Belgium.
-
2005
Luxe Gallery New York, USA.
-
2004
« Y’ a-t-il un commissaire pour sauver l’exposition? »
Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris, France
Nuit Blanche, Musée Victor Hugo, Paris, France (curator Ami Barak).
« Grotesque, Burlesques et parodie »
(curator Jean-Paul Blanchet), Abbaye de Meymac, Meymac, France.
-
2003
« Artists Backstage »
(with Alain Bublex), Art 34 Basel, Switzerland.
« Home »
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, France« Expoluxurious »
Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg
Group Show, Art Space Witzenhausen,
Amsterdam, Netherlands« Zanimaux »
Galerie e.l.o, Uzès, France
« La Bataille du Réel »
(with Gilles Barbier, Alain Bublex, Jean-François Fourtou
Saverio Lucariello), Synopsis, Lausanne, Switzerland. -
2002
Biennale de Cetinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia
Wonderland, Aéroplastics, Brussels, Belgium
« Ironie du sort »
Galeria Bunkier Szutki, Krakow, Poland (cat.).
« Voilà la France! »
Curator Andrea Busto, C.E.S.A.C., Turino, Italy (cat.).
-
2001
Salon (after Louise Bourgeois' proposal),
Artists Space, New York, USA (cat.).Domaine de Chamarande, Ile-de-France, France
-
2000
Art Contemporain, Parly 2, le Chesnay, France
-
1999
« Nous nous sommes tant aimés »
Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts,
Paris, France.« Animal »
Musée Bourdelle, Paris
Marlborough Gallery, Madrid, Spain
-
1995
Villa Lemot, Loire Atlantique, France
-
1994
« Animal et compagnie... »
Musée d’art Moderne de Troyes, France.
Casa de Velazquez, Madrid and Paris, Spain & France
-
1992
Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois
Paris, FranceEcole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts,
Paris, France
Selective bibliography
-
2023
« Monographic work JF Fourtou »
Dilecta Editions, Paris, France
-
2019
« Bêtes de Scène »
Exhibition catalog,Villa Datris Foundation
L’Isle-sur-la Sorgue, France -
2016
Edition about the Essone département’s contemporary art collection (FDAC)
Domaine de Chamarande, France
-
2014
« Art MAXI Art mini »
Tristan Manco, Pyramyd Edition
-
2011
« Un Monde sans mesure »
Exhibition catalog, Musée Fesch, Ed. Palais Fesch-musée des Beaux-Arts
Milan, Silvana Editoriale, Italy -
2010
« Tombée du Ciel »
Exhibition catalog, texts by Paul Ardenne, JGM. Galerie Editions, Paris, France.
-
2009
« Un Monde sans mesure »
Museu Nacional do Complexo da Republica e Chancelado, Brasilia et Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de Sao Paulo Editions, Brazil.
-
2008
« La Dégelée Rabelais »
Exhibition catalog, texts by Christian Besson, Bernard Fabvre, Emmanuel Latreille, Bernard Marcadé, Jean-Pierre Piniès, Bruno Pinchard
Méditerranée Editions et Frac Languedoc-Roussillon Editions, France.
-
2007
« Mes Maisons »
Exhibition catalog n°27, JGM. Galerie Editions,
Paris, France« Bêtes et Hommes »
Exhibition catalog, « Gallimard » Editions,
Paris, France -
2004
Fourtou, Galerie GP & N Vallois Editions,
Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro« Voilà la France! »
C.E.S.A.C. Editions, Turin, Italie.
-
2002
Ironie du sort, Group Show catalog,
Bunkier Sztuki Editions, Cracovie, Poland -
2001
Salon (after Louise Bourgeois' proposal),
Artists Space Editions, NYC, USA -
1999
Fourtou, Galerie GP & N Vallois Editions,
Paris, France
« Jean-François Fourtou, La Famille des Hybridus »
From December 2, 2023, to January 13, 2024
Press release
This new exhibition at the gallery RX & Slag could very well be introduced by such an announcement as it is a step in the path of the artist and the celebration of this new family now called «the Hybridus». The first milestones were set in 2020, when Jean-François Fourtou came to present his Nanitos, these little gardeners who were being quite mischievous. He reminds us of their origin : «When my daughter was little, I told her that in our house in Marrakech, there were holes in which small characters were installed that we could not see because they passed very quickly. Years later, she grew up and I had 2 children born by GPA. I thought about my Nanitos and I gave birth to them in the vegetable garden of Marrakech. As adults, they become pumpkin-headed gardeners.” As invitations were issued, notably by the Utopia festival in Lille in 2022 or on the occasion of the exhibition «Grandeur nature» at the Château de Fontainebleau in 2023, Fourtou added characters : “the Minitos à têtes de legumes”, “Mr. & Mrs. Palm à tête de palmiers”, and already has in mind to continue the adventure with beings returning to the seabed. New for this exhibition, he tackled embroidery – a skill that reminds him of his grandfather. For him, who claims to be a sculptor, it is a different approach to storytelling : each image is like a comic book box and everyone can arrange them as they want, inventing their own story.
MoreFallen form the Sky
Life, its Sanctuaries, and its Ghosts
A full‐scale replication by Jean‐François Fourtou, in the neighborhood of Marrakech, of a Charente region’s house has every chance of entering the annals of art history. Replication? The word is not strong enough. Reconstruction seems more exact. On his property of Dar el Sadaka the artist has rebuilt identically the modest house, originally located in the small town of Fouras, in the Charente‐Maritime region by the shores of the Atlantic, where as a child he spent his vacations. The outside, the interior, everything that Jean‐François Fourtou has remembered accurately, is given again in the present, inspired by the various houses he spent time in during his youth (his grandparents’ house in Montreuil, another one they rented during several summers in Fouras in the Charente region…), whether it’s the furniture, its placement in the house, the color of the plaster or the wallpaper and above all the specific atmosphere of all these ancient places.
Paul Ardenne
MoreEmmanuelle Lequeux 2004
At Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois from 16 January to 24 February 2004
At Galerie Pièce Unique from 16 January to 16 March 2004
Jean-François Fourtou approaches his work rather as if writing a Bildungsroman, with each new chapter of the initiation taking the form of an exhibition. Both author and character in his own work, he often touches on autobiography while at the same time surpassing it. He offers the heroes of his works a few extraordinary episodes, a few ordeals, and, above all, he speaks to that kind of surprise we feel at watching ourselves develop. In short, everything happens as if we were in a novel of education, woven from countless "once upon a times": each proposition may at first seem naive, but they soon turn out to be much more disturbing than the first words suggest (but then that's always the way with stories, isn't it?) [...]
Emmanuelle Lequeux
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