JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL

He began using glass in his work in the early 1990s after meeting artisan glassblowers from Murano, Italy, and has been creating his signature glass necklaces since the late 90s. In 2005, the artist’s sculpture Bateau de Larmes was honoured at the entrance of the Art Basel Unlimited section. Othoniel had his first retrospective My Way in 2011 at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, and the show then travelled to Plateau, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; the Macao Museum of Art; and the Brooklyn Museum.

Jean-Michel Othoniel is also passionate about projects with public institutions. In 2000, Othoniel received his first public commission to transform the Parisian subway station Palais-Royal – Musée du Louvre in celebration of its 100th anniversary, where he installed the Murano glass and aluminum Le Kiosque des Noctambules. In 2015, the Palace of Versailles welcomed the artist’s _Les Belles Danses _as its first permanent installation inside its gardens.

Recent major exhibitions include Jean-Michel Othoniel: Secret Flower Sculptures (2015) at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, Boston; Nouvelles impressions de Raymond Roussel (2013) at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Chefs-d’œuvre? (2010) at Centre Pompidou-Metz, France; and Glasstress (2009) at the 53rd Venice Biennale. Othoniel’s works are in numerous renowned collections, including Centre Pompidou and Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, Paris; Museum of Modern Art and New York Public Library, New York; Boghossian Foundation, Brussels; Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Budi Tek-Yuz Museum, Shanghai; and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Othoniel’s latest project includes an artistic intervention in the artifact conservatory of the Cathédrale d’Angoulême, France.

Courtesy Kukje Gallery