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RENONCIAT Christian, Sculpture - guest artist in the Ar(t)chipel Festival

"It is high time, in short, to consider Christian Renonciat’s artistic work in terms of what appears to be its essential nature: a blend of conceptualization (the practice arises from an idea, a principle, the equivalent of a theorem) and bodily sensitivity to matter (the artwork is a sensory object, just as the bodies of the artist and the viewer are). A bodily art, rather than an art of imitation. An embodiment, rather than mimesis.” Paul Ardenne, writer and art historian—*The Theorem and Sensible Bodies* ( extract)

“To speak of the materiality of things is, therefore, to speak to the body. But it is also to speak of the body, to approach its silence, to brush against and caress it; a complete shift in perspective, then, so that, as it listens, in that space between, it becomes somewhat aware of itself, briefly opening the prodigious library of its sensations stored in memory.” Christian Renonciat, *To Do or Not to Do* ( extract)

Biographical notes

Born in Paris in 1947,
Christian Renonciat studied at the Sorbonne, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.

In 1969, he joined Jean-Louis Gonnet’s studio in Antibes, where he spent six years working with wood.

In 1975, he opened his own studio in Valbonne, where he created his first sculptures.

In 1978, back in Paris, he held his first exhibition at the Alain Blondel Gallery. Over the years, his interest in the materiality of objects as a subject became increasingly defined, sculpted in wood through a variety of representations, ranging from the most [hyper]realistic to nearly abstract works.

Since 1984, he has pursued a second, parallel path: monumental creation, in which he blends imagination and technique using a wide variety of materials (cast steel, bronze, aluminum, gardens, etc.), often evoking the tone of an imaginary archaeology.
Installations in Saumur, Tokyo, Sapporo, Atlanta, San Francisco, Monte Carlo, Aytré, La Rochelle, Paris, Issy, Reims, London, Seoul, etc.

He has since returned to the materiality of objects in large-scale mural compositions of carved wood, as well as “tapestries” made of cloth, plastic, wool, paper, or cardboard.

Regular exhibitions in France, Switzerland, Belgium, the U.S., Japan, China, South Korea, etc.

Approach

“A hundred times back to the workbench.” Christian Renonciat rightly embraces this quintessentially artisanal motto, which evokes the repetition of the gesture, its necessary restart, and the very rhythm of meticulous action as a creative force. A visit to his studio confirms this. Standing upright on an easel, much like a painter’s canvas, is a blank wooden slab. The artist will work on it while standing, armed with his tools: a gouge, a chisel, a power saw, a grinder, a sander, and various files. A landscape of bumps, protrusions, and hollows soon emerges from the wooden slab, reminiscent of Isamu Noguchi’s famous sculpture *Terre Torturée*, gradually evoking a pitted earthen surface. A discernible form then emerges through the calculated removal of material, while the act of rough carving is gradually replaced by that of finishing—sanding or applying varnish with a pad. Several days have passed between the work’s inception and completion; an intense relationship has developed between the material and the artist, with time—how it is occupied, how it is nullified—serving here as Christian Renonciat’s natural companion in his work. The old academic division between the spatial arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, installations, environments—and the temporal arts—literature, theater, performance, film? A de facto aberration.
Paul Ardenne, writer and art historian

Exhibitions

1976 * Antibes, then Mougins City Hall.
* MJC Gorbella, Nice.
1978 * Sur le fil, Galerie du Luxembourg, Paris.
1980 * Emballages, Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris.
* Galerie Alain Blondel, FIAC, Grand Palais, Paris.
1981/82 * International Art Fair, Chicago, USA.
1982 * Cartons-Trace, Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris.
* Pli selon pli, Galerie Alain Blondel.
1987 * Exhibitions in Munich, Geneva, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, with Hermès.
1989 * Troublement, FIAC, Grand Palais, then Galerie Blondel II.
1991 * La matière des choses, retrospective, Reims Museum of Fine Arts.
1996 * “Vernis sages,” Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris
1997 * “La voie du bois,” retrospective in Seoul; Macau; Hong Kong; Tokyo.
* “Juxtapositions,” Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik, Croatia
1999 * Retrospective exhibition in Geneva, “Bâtiment des Forces Motrices”
* Exhibition in Beirut of the “PHENIX, Cheval de Proue” project, a monument for the
Saint-Georges harbor
2000 * Exhibition at the Epstein Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA
2001 * “Le toucher des choses,” Alain Blondel Gallery, Paris
2002/03 * Hooks-Epstein Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA
* Exhibition at Galerie Piretti, Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium
2005 * “Fleur de peau,” Galerie Alain Blondel, Paris
2006 * “Fleur de peau,” Hong Merchant Gallery, Shanghai, China
2007 * “The Way of Wood,” exhibition at Gremillion & Fine Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas
* “Fleur de peau,” Island6 Gallery in Shanghai; curated by Claude Hudelot
2008 * “Pièces écrites,” Alain Blondel Gallery, Paris
* Exhibition at Shina Gallery, Kyoto
* EXARTE Gallery, Geneva
2009 * “Creased,” Gremillion & Fine Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA.
2011 * “Froissés composés,” Mazel Gallery, Brussels
* “Composed Creases,” Gremillion & Fine Arts Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA.
2013 • “Froissés composés,” Duchoze Gallery, Rouen
• Solo: Guest of Honor at Arts Élysées Paris (October 24–28)
• “Au fil du bois,” MATMUT Art Center, Château de Varengeville, near Rouen
2014 • “The Way of Wood,” Gremillion & C° Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA
• “Les diagonales du carton,” Piretti Gallery, Knokke-le-Zout, Belgium
• “Art Élysées,” Olivier Waltman Gallery, Paris
2015 • “Art Paris,” Grand Palais in Paris, Olivier Waltman Gallery
2016 • “Art Paris,” Grand Palais in Paris, Olivier Waltman Gallery
• “Œuvres au noir,” Waltman Gallery, Paris
• “Œuvres au noir,” Ortega Gallery, Miami, USA
2017 • Gremillion & C°, Houston, Texas, USA
2018 • Webhart Gallery, Seoul, followed by the Gwangju Art Fair
2019 • Chaumont Castle, France
• “Friselis,” Galerie Guillaume, Paris
2020 • “Matières,” Galerie La Forest-Divonne, Brussels
2021/22 • “Ondes,” solo exhibition at Galerie Guillaume, Paris.
On this occasion, publication of a monographic book; preface by Jacques Attali, text by Paul Ardenne.
2023 • “Le grain des choses,” solo exhibition, La Forest-Divonne Gallery, Brussels
2025 • BRAFA with the Laforest-Divonne Gallery
• “Du bout des doigts,” Galerie Guillaume, Paris
2026 • “La caresse d’être,” exhibition at Galerie Laforest Divonne,Brussels
• “La voie du bois,” Galerie Capazza, Nançay
• Studio visit, as part of the Ar(t)chipel festival, Centre Pompidou and the Centre region

Commissioned works and monumental installations

Publications

1980 Le bois et la main*, a Gaumont short film by Jérôme Laperouzas.
1986 L’Art et la matière*, a 26-minute video film by Claude Hudelot, La Rochelle.
1989 Le cheval d'Aytré*, by Yves-Antoine Judde.
1991 La Pierre d’Heures*, City of Reims.
Renonciat*, monograph published by Ramsay, Visions collection.
1997 La voie du bois*, a book for the traveling exhibition “The Way of Wood” in Asia
2002 Archeval*, 26-minute film by Gilles Lallement
2003 La grande Vague*, a film by Yves-Antoine Judde
2006 Le parti-pris de la matière des choses*, catalog for the “Fleur de peau” exhibition in Hong Kong.
2011 Pièces écrites, Les Arches d'Issy.
2013 Au fil du bois, monograph published by Didier Carpentier
2021 Christian Renonciat, monograph published by STIPA / Galerie Guillaume
2025 Du bout des doigts, exhibition catalog

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