Benoît Fournier (1981, France), lives and works in Rio de Janeiro since 2006. He studied at the Parque Lage School of Visual Arts (EAV Parque Lage, Rio de Janeiro).
Artist Statement
I wonder about life’s urgencies, questioning our relationships with the world, beyond the nature/culture dualism that has led to an unbridled exploitation of living resources and a perspective of the end of the sapiens species. My work deals with issues of ecological, social importance.
My research starts from memory: defending a notion of the world in which the so-called nature is a non-linear starting point, path and end, we are complementary beings. Art is a primordial instrument to bring out the idea that we are nature. We preserve ancestral memory, a DNA of signs that connect to vital laws.
Walking and collecting materials in the forest rescue a distant ancestry for some, but very present for me, in addition to considering the organic elements, not seeing materiality as such, but the flows of materials.
I am interested in gravity, tension and connections (and disconnections) between living things, whether on the visible or invisible plane, delving into these connections of a nature that is sometimes despised. I used different media: photography, engraving, installation, sculpture, painting and video.
Solo shows
2021 | Z42 Art Gallery, [Everything in the world is spirit], curated by Ulisses Carrilho & Bruna Costa, blow Ernesto Neto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2021 | Z42 Art Gallery, [Green blood, black earth, living targets], curated by Bruna Costa, Ernesto Neto, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2019 | Espace L Gallery, [Nipei Yuxiî], Geneva, Switzerland.
2018 | Edouard de la Marque Gallery, [Nipei Yuxiî], Paris, France.
2018 | Deutsch Museum, [The Spirits of the Plants], Lausanne, Switzerland.
2017 | Blue Sky Gallery, [Babylon], Portland, USA.
2017 | Festival Promenades photographiques, [Percurso], Vendôme, France.
2015 | Cultural Center CEDAE, [Water memories], Rio de Janeiro, curated by Diogenes Moura, Brazil.
2014 | Alliance Française Gallery, Prix Photo Web, [Land of water], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Group Shows
2023 | Le Salon H – Vila Ladeira, [Dar Bandeira], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2023 | Este Arte, Reginart Collection, Punta del Este, Uruguay.
2022 | Artnow Project Gallery, [60 old street], Geneva, Switzerland.
2022 | Federal Justice Cultural Center and Hélio Oiticica Municipal Arts Center, [Parada 7 Arte em Resistência], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2022 | Espaço 8, [Tomorrow will be a new day], São Paulo, Brazil.
2022 | Photo Basel, L’Antichambre Gallery, Basel, Switzerland.
2020 | Art Geneve, Simon Studer Gallery & Rosa Turetski Gallery, Geneve, Switzerland.
2019 | Biennale d’Issy, [Contemporary Portraits, selfie of the soul?], Paris, France.
2017 | A Gentil Carioca Gallery, [Abre Alas 13 | Resurgence], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2017 | Aliança Francesa Gallery, [Identity], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2017 | National Historical Museum, [Quando o mar virou Rio | Rio Life], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2017 | Festival International de fotografia In Cadaqués, [Percurso], Cadaqués, Spain.
2017 | A Mesa, [Experience 17], Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2017 | Aniwa Gathering, [Seres da Floresta], Ibiza, Spain.
2016 | MAR Museum, [Body discourses | the vertigo of Rio], curated by Paulo Herkenhoff and co-curator Milton Guran, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2016 | Casa França-Brasil, [Lá Fora |Resurgence, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2016 | Art Residence, [Hanging Garden | Resurgence], Babylon Favela, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2016 | Red Bull Station, [Identity], São Paulo, Brazil.
2015 | Centro Cultural Justiça Federal [Ser Carioca de Luz], Water Memories, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2014 | Book [Calçadão do Leme ao Leblon], published by Língua Geral, Brazil.
2014 | Natural History Museum, Jardin des plantes, Paris, France.
2014 | The Center for Fine Art Photography [Black and white 2014 exhibition], Colorado, USA.
2014 | Museum del Fiume, [Water Memories], Biodiversity Festival, Nazzano, Italy.
2013 | Festival Foto in Pauta, [Street Photography], Tiradentes, Brazil.
2012 | Festival de la luz, [Exercícios da Paixão], Espaço 10 Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentine.
Awards
2016 | Prix ANI Portfolio, Promenades photographiques de Vendôme, France.
2015 | Honorable mention, Portfolio review, FotoRio, Rio de Janeiro.
2014 | Contest photo Natural History Museum – ‘prix albums’, Paris.
2014 | 5th place, ‘Water 2014’, photo contest, Italy.
2014 | Honorable mention, Life Framer International photography award, London, UK.
2013 | 1st place, Prix Photo Web prize, sponsored by Aliança Francesa, 2013.
Art Collections
Museum MAR, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Center of Fine Art Photography, Colorado, USA.
Joaquim Paiva, Private Collection, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Geoffrey C. Koslov, Private Collection, Houston, USA.
National History Museum, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Residências
2022 | Kaaysá, Arte e natureza, curadoria Agnaldo Farias, Boiçucanga, SP, Brasil
2017 | Residência artística Jardins Suspensos, comunidade Babilônia, Rio de Janeiro.
Books
2015 | [Water memories], published by Andrea Jakobsson, Brazil.
2014 | [The city by Bandeira], published by Batel, Brazil.