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From Bordeaux to the Jungle: An Initiatory Path

Born in Bordeaux in 1990, Bruno Gadenne belongs to a generation of artists who have revived figurative painting by infusing it with a symbolic, introspective depth. A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he developed early on a visual language in which nature becomes the stage for an existential dialogue.
For Gadenne, to travel is to paint. His journeys – from South America to Iceland, India to the Amazon – fuel a body of work where the landscape, far from being documentary, becomes a sensorial experience, reconstructed from memory and emotion.

“I’m not trying to reproduce a place, but to translate a sensation.”

The Forest as an Inner Mirror

The forest stands at the heart of his work: a space of mystery, silence, and transformation. For Gadenne, it is not a setting but a living entity. His paintings explore the duality of nature—both sanctuary and threat, light and darkness.
With cinematic precision and subtle shifts in tone, he captures that uncanny tension between wonder and unease, where the viewer feels both drawn in and unsettled.
Each painting becomes an inner landscape, reflecting our own psychological terrain.

Travel as Pictorial Matrix

Each project begins with travel—and above all, walking. With his camera, the artist gathers fragments of reality: fleeting lights, shadows, movements. These images, reworked and recomposed in the studio, form the foundation of his compositions.
Through a digital collage process, he rearranges perspectives, merges memories, and creates mental maps rather than real vistas. This interplay between photography, technology, and paint reflects a deeply contemporary approach to the landscape.

From Digital Sketches to the Sublime

Back in the studio, Gadenne works slowly, layering translucent glazes until light seems to emanate from within. His technique evokes Turner’s atmospheres and Friedrich’s spiritual intensity, yet remains anchored in a 21st-century awareness of ecology and perception.
Light, for him, is not a tool but a character, revealing the fragility and sacredness of the natural world.

Eldorado: Gold, Mystery, and Uneasy Beauty

In his series Eldorado, Gadenne delves deeper into the mythic dimension of nature. Gold—symbol of wealth and conquest—appears as both a lure and a warning.
Lush vegetation, reflective surfaces, and stagnant waters compose ambiguous paradises, oscillating between dream and decay. These are mirages of desire, where beauty and loss coexist.

“I’m not trying to reproduce nature, but to create a space that evokes a sensation — a mix of fascination and unease.”

Conclusion: Art as a Window to Other Worlds

Through his contemplative practice, Bruno Gadenne reminds us of painting’s timeless power to slow down our gaze.
In a world of acceleration, his works invite us to pause, to look deeper, and to sense the wild beauty that persists beneath the surface.
His art, poised between spiritual ecology and the sublime, opens pathways toward worlds both inner and outer—where mystery, awe, and silence still have room to breathe.

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Jeanne Vicerial is a sculptor and costume designer whose work explores the representation of the human body through the lens of clothing and textiles. Her approach—rooted in a background in costume and design—is deeply shaped by her experience in fashion and her critical reflection on industrial textile production. Her practice is defined by an exploration of the relationships between anatomy, dramaturgy, and bodily transformation, all expressed through the unique technique she developed: tricotissage (knit-stitching).

Fashion as a Starting Point

“Fashion allows, in some way, for this indiscipline, this ability to navigate freely.”

Jeanne Vicerial’s training in costume and design greatly influenced her understanding of the body. Her early artistic references were rooted in fashion, with figures such as Alaïa, Fortuny, Issey Miyake, and Olivier Saillard. The influence of Madame Grès—a sculptor whose career turned toward fashion—is also notable. However, the collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013 and the reading of Lidewij Edelkoort’s Anti-Fashion Manifesto, which proclaimed that fashion had become “sick,” pushed her to question industrial production and develop a more conceptual approach to clothing. She went on to create an “immaterial space” called the “Clinique Vestimentaire” (Garment Clinic). This reflection on clothing as a concept, rather than merely a product, became a pivotal moment in her artistic evolution. Although her initial prototypes were tied to fashion, she realized her work was not truly “wearable”—and this realization proved liberating.

Sculpture: A Liberating Artistic Expression

I don’t draw my sculptures in advance — I draw directly in three dimensions with my thread in space.”

Her residency at the Villa Medici marked a major turning point. Surrounded by established artists who did not question the choice of medium, she began using her knit-stitching technique to clothe the park’s sculptures. This experience led to a decisive shift toward sculpture as her main medium in 2019. She now works directly in three dimensions, using thread as a drawing tool. Her sculptures—often inspired by depictions of the female body in art history (such as the “wet-draped Venus”)—are designed as armors, as presences, responding to the violence of certain traditional representations. She creates “garment-organs” (head, torso, lower body), assembling them like molds, blending muscular, organic, and epidermal forms, sometimes incorporating vegetal elements. The process, long and meticulous (ranging from 300 to 2,000 hours per piece), induces a modified state of consciousness—almost a trance.

Art as an Exploration of Metamorphosis

“It’s actually quite violent, of course, to see these representations of the female body throughout art history.”

The exhibition “Nymphose” lies at the heart of her current artistic approach. It explores metamorphosis, bodily transformation, and material change, inspired by the nymph life cycle. The sculptures—often hybrid (insects, flowers, human bodies)—embody transitional states, combining rigid elements (such as metal, introduced for the first time in Nymphose) with the fluidity of thread. The show addresses themes of lineage, gestation, craft heritage, and artistic metamorphosis. The artist draws inspiration from figures like Pierre Soulages, and collaborates with artisans such as Hubert Barrère for embroidery. She examines the interior and exterior of the body, visibility and invisibility, the sexualization of the female body, and the representation of menstrual blood, often hidden or considered “dirty.”

Materials and Thread: A Defining Signature

For Jeanne Vicerial, material is a space of renewal—allowing for constant transformation and exploration. Thread is her principal material, usually monochromatic (black or white), and often used as monofilament to minimize waste. She works with threads of various thicknesses, from the finest to the thickest (up to 5 mm). Recently, she has incorporated metal (copper and brass). Flowers, either fresh or dried, introduce touches of natural color—a palette she prefers over artificial dyes. Light and reflection also play a key role in her work, particularly evident in an exhibition dialoguing with Pierre Soulages’ Outrenoir series.

“Material, for me, is the place where I can renew myself.”

Jeanne Vicerial’s work is a unique fusion of fashion, sculpture, and conceptual art. Her deeply personal and intellectually grounded approach explores the representation of the human body through an innovative knit-stitching technique and a visual language rich in symbols and references. Her practice is a testimony to ongoing research, a pushing of the medium’s boundaries, and a desire to give artistic voice to bodily and societal issues that are often overlooked or misrepresented.

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Bennett Miller, the Academy Award-nominated director behind Capote, Moneyball, and Foxcatcher, has always pushed the boundaries of cinematic storytelling. In this exclusive interview, he delves into the intersection of art, technology, and artificial intelligence, drawing fascinating parallels between the creative process in filmmaking and the advancements in AI-driven image generation, such as OpenAI’s DALL·E.

Bennett Miller’s Cinematic Vision

Miller has built a reputation for directing films that combine meticulous research, immersive storytelling, and profound character studies. His films have been critically acclaimed, earning multiple Academy Award nominations and redefining how true stories can be adapted for the screen. Throughout his career, he has explored the complexities of human ambition, deception, and the structures that shape creative expression.

The Intersection of AI and Filmmaking

One of the central topics in this interview is Miller’s perspective on the growing role of AI in creative fields. He reflects on how AI tools like DALL·E, which generate images from text descriptions, mirror aspects of the filmmaking process. Much like a director guiding a film crew, AI responds to prompts and iterates on ideas, leading to unexpected and sometimes profound results.

Miller discusses how AI is shifting the landscape of artistic creation, raising questions about authorship, originality, and the role of the human artist in an age where machines can produce visually compelling works.

The Evolution of Creativity in the Digital Age

Despite concerns over automation and the role of AI in art, Miller sees these technological advances as a continuation of artistic evolution. He compares it to historical shifts in art and cinema—just as photography transformed painting and digital technology reshaped filmmaking, AI presents both challenges and new possibilities.

He emphasizes that AI should be seen as a tool for artists rather than a replacement, allowing for new forms of storytelling and artistic experimentation.

A Philosophical Perspective on AI and Human Creativity

Throughout the conversation, Miller takes a thoughtful, almost philosophical approach to AI and its implications for cinema, art, and the human imagination. He highlights the need for artists to engage with these tools, understanding their potential while also questioning their limitations.

As AI-generated imagery becomes more sophisticated, Miller suggests that the role of the artist remains essential, even in an age of machine-generated content.

The Future of AI and Art

Bennett Miller’s insights provide a compelling glimpse into the future of art and technology. While AI continues to evolve, the human capacity for storytelling, interpretation, and emotional depth remains irreplaceable.

As filmmakers and artists navigate this new landscape, Miller’s perspective serves as a reflection on what it means to be creative in an era of technological transformation.

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Renowned British painter Glenn Brown has redefined the boundaries of contemporary art by merging Surrealism, Photorealism, and historical references into a unique visual language. Born in 1966 in a small mining village in northern England, Brown grew up surrounded by literature and music rather than visual arts. His work is celebrated for its meticulous detail, complex appropriations, and evocative distortions that invite viewers to question the meaning of art and originality.

The Early Foundations of Creativity

Brown’s formative years were marked by a love of books and music, fostered by his parents in rural Norfolk. He recalls his unexpected introduction to visual art through pop music:

“My first introduction to Henri Fantin-Latour’s paintings was by an album cover designed by Peter Saville for New Order.”

Programs from the Open University further expanded his education in art and film, giving him a rich cultural foundation before he ever set foot in an art college.

At art school, Brown’s education varied from academic life drawing to modernist theories of color and abstraction. He was influenced by the German and American art movements of the 1980s, including Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke, both of whom shaped his approach to the “death of painting.” As Brown explains:

“You build upon tradition, you play with it, and you break it whenever you want to.”

Painting in a Mediated World

Brown’s career has been deeply influenced by the concept of appropriation, drawing inspiration from artists like Sherrie Levine and Salvador Dalí. He reflects on the process of reinterpreting images:

“I loved Sherrie Levine’s photographs… where you become dizzy because you don’t know what to look at.”

This fascination led to his unique practice of creating “paintings of paintings,” using mediated images as his subject. His work bridges the gap between Photorealism and Surrealism, as seen in his pieces based on Dalí and science fiction illustrator Chris Foss. Brown notes:

“The idea of making photorealist paintings of photorealist paintings… seemed so mind-numbingly boring that I couldn’t bear to do it.”

Instead, he introduces distortions and layers that amplify fantasy and escapism.

A Dialogue Between Paintings – In the Altogether

For his exhibition In the Altogether, presented at Galerie Max Hetzler in Paris, Brown created a series of interconnected works over two years. He explains:

“Nothing was finished, but all the paintings were started, and they were all talking to each other.”

The paintings feature vibrant colors, dynamic contrasts, and intricate glazing techniques that add depth and complexity. For instance, Brown uses Indian yellow—a pigment derived from ox urine—to create unique tones:

“You apply this yellow over the top of a blue, and it turns this very peculiar green.”

One standout piece, The Untitled, is based on an Albrecht Dürer drawing. Brown manipulates the figure to blur gender distinctions, explaining:

“In my mind, it’s both Christ and Mary at the same time.”

The work includes a blank rectangle at the bottom, inviting viewers to title the piece themselves, an interactive gesture that encourages personal interpretation.

Humor, Depth, and the Role of Titles

Brown’s use of humor is central to his work, influenced by the deadpan wit of Marcel Duchamp. Titles like Dirty Little Seahorses and When the Satellite Sings are meant to provoke both laughter and deeper reflection. He describes the importance of titles:

“The title of a work is like adding an invisible color to the painting.”

Through this playful yet intellectual approach, Brown invites viewers to engage with his art on multiple levels, finding meaning and amusement in equal measure.

Glenn Brown’s Artistic Vision

With In the Altogether, Glenn Brown continues to push the boundaries of painting by combining meticulous technique with rich cultural references. His work reimagines the history of art while challenging viewers to question their perceptions. Whether through surreal landscapes or appropriated brushstrokes, Brown’s paintings create a dialogue between the past and present, offering a thought-provoking and playful exploration of humanity and creativity.

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David Reed is a prominent American contemporary painter known for his abstract works that emphasize color, movement, and light. With a distinct approach that blends traditional techniques with modern influences, his paintings often evoke a cinematic quality, mixing expressionist brushwork with a digital sensibility. In this interview, Reed discusses his artistic journey, from his early influences to his latest exhibition, Whirlpool.

Early Influences and Path to Art

Reed’s early life in San Diego, California, was shaped by modernist architecture, thanks to his uncle, architect John August Reed. This influence, combined with family members involved in art, created a foundation that would eventually lead Reed to pursue painting. He reflects on how McLaughlin’s minimalist work, often dismissed by others, piqued his curiosity and shaped his approach to space and composition.

The Impact of the New York Studio School and Milton Resnick

While studying at the New York Studio School, Reed encountered Milton Resnick, who challenged him to view paintings as a whole rather than focusing on isolated parts. Resnick’s unconventional advice helped Reed develop a more integrated approach to painting.

Color, Emotion, and Freedom in Painting

One of the defining features of Reed’s work is his use of color to evoke emotion. For Reed, color serves as an opening, offering an unarticulated yet powerful emotional resonance. He believes color in painting can liberate the viewer, creating personal connections that transcend commercial uses of color in media.

“Painting can fight back against [advertising] by using color in a way that’s free, that lets people experience in a different way and frees them up rather than trying to control them.”

Whirlpool: The Endless Possibilities of Painting

In Whirlpool, Reed seeks to create paintings that feel open-ended, inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story about a whirlpool with simultaneous inward and outward motion. This dynamic interaction, where paintings pull viewers in before pushing them out, captures the essence of Reed’s recent work.

“I want these forms to be open… to think that the painting can open up sideways, above and below, and maybe be repeated in certain ways.”

Homage to Barnett Newman and the Use of Stencils

Reed’s experimentation with stencils has given him new freedom in manipulating color and form. In his homage to Barnett Newman, Reed uses red, yellow, and blue to invoke Newman’s abstract yet culturally resonant approach. This piece reflects Reed’s respect for Newman’s ability to blend intellectual depth with popular culture, a quality Reed aspires to in his own work.

“I think of that painting as an homage to Barnett Newman… he was so intellectual, but still so involved with pop culture.”

Conclusion: The Emotional Journey of Painting

David Reed’s dedication to exploring the emotional and visual language of color and form has cemented his place in contemporary art. His work continues to offer viewers a unique, open-ended engagement, revealing the transformative potential of painting in a world where color is often commercially driven. Reed’s exhibition Whirlpool serves as a testament to his belief in the enduring relevance of painting as an expressive medium.

Watch David Reed’s full interview to learn more about his journey and philosophy.