(Editor: Leona)
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, The French Federation of Craft Professionals and the Lafayette Art & Design Center are hosting a joint exhibition around the theme “French Art Tour —The Art of French Living” along with a series of activities.

More than 76 works of art by 19 French Art Masters will be exhibited and many salons focusing on different topics will be held during this exhibition. The event aims to create a bridge and a platform for cultural exchanges between France and China by exhibiting high quality contemporary French handicraft artworks and creative artworks for the audience to admire.

帕斯卡•乌代
Pascal Oudet

Born in 1972
Based near Grenoble, France

Pascal Oudet finds part of his inspiration in the effect of weathered woods and stones. Sun, rain, frost, all reveal the inner structure of the material. In his pieces, he tries to highlight the character of the wood thanks to various surface treatments. Working on carefully selected trees, he creates very thin pieces that he takes all the way to transparency, creating actual wooden lace, which emphasizes the entire history of the trees he’s working with. Most of the time, he has a precise idea of the piece he wants to create, and then looks for the kind of wood that will render the effect he’s after.

Bowls set 碗/ Diameters: 13 x 12.5 x 12 cm, Oak (quercus petrae), 2014 © Pascal Oudet

Teapot 茶壶/ 15 x 14 x 22.5 cm, Oak (quercus petrae), 2013 © Pascal Oudet

玛丽诺埃•罗爱格朗日
Marie•Noelle Ronayette Grange

Born in 1952
Based in Forcalquier, France

A graduate of the CNIFOP School of ceramics, Marie•Noëlle Ronayette Grange completed her training in the studio of French sculptor François Hermann. Her creations revolve around the human body, especially female, represented in an allegorical way, suggested by a line, a silhouette or a layer of clothing. She endeavours to evoke an emotion through attitude or movement. She also creates shapes and objects of daily life such as giant spoons and forks, candles, and ball•shaped vases called “blasts”, represented in an original way to surprise the viewer.

Breath No.1 呼吸1 / 20 x 15 / 12 cm, Bronze, 2014 © Marie-Noelle Ronayette Grange

Tapped Fork & spoon 螺纹叉勺/ 107 cm, Bronze, 2013 © Marie-Noelle Ronayette Grange

卡琳•斯特梅尔
Karin Stegmaier

Born in 1956
Based near Strasbourg, France

A ceramist since 1982, Karin Stegmaier has been working with glass for about 15 years and follows this path between bouts of experimentation, training and teaching. Her experience in ceramics allows her to approach glass in a daring and novel way. To her, glass represents solidified water. Her series Glass Water tries to grasp the imperceptible, to translate movement as well as the absence of solid and tangible matter. Mainly influenced by the forces of nature, she aims to display a transient aspect, a metamorphosis, a space between the living and the dormant, between the fleeting and the eternal.

waterslice 1 水片 / 38 x 24 x 7.5 cm, Glass, 2014 © DR

Flower pots 花盆100 x 100 x 30 cm, Glass, 2012 © DR

田 文
Wen Tien

Born in 1963
Based in Montpellier, France

Wen Tien was born in Taiwan, China and grew up to respect traditional Chinese arts and culture, including the Song and Tang era celadonand porcelain pieces. However, when she decided to settle down in France, she discovered the use of clay as a complete artistic practice and learned modeling, throwing, glazing, firing and raku. She pursues a quest for uncluttered style and expression, with simple lines that embrace the material, while drawing inspiration from her Taiwan, Chinaese cultures by formalising it into a contemporary form of expression, at the border between Western rigour and Asian inspiration.

① : Dorsale Tournante (Spinning Dorsal) 旋转的脊柱Spinning Dorsal /
83 x 24 x 20 cm, Clay, 2009 © DR
② : Flèche (Arrow) 箭 / 110 x 25 x 22 cm, Clay, 2009 © DR

Sans Titre (Untitled) 无题 / 83 x 24 x 20 cm, Clay, 2009 © DR

 亚历山大•托列
Alexandra Tollet

Born in 1984
Based in Saint Maur des Fossés, France

A ceramics degree, a throwing traineeship, a bachelor of fine arts, an embroidery qualification... Alexandra Tollet loves to learn. Most of all, she loves clay: workable, sensual because it provides volume, space, the rhythm of curves all the way into abstraction, movement between shape and decor. Drawing remains the common thread of her work as a ceramist. Through the graphic processing of these pieces, of a mat and saturated black colour in keeping with the instinctive sgraffito technique, decor becomes surface, living matter inviting to the touch.

Eboulis II (Scree II) 小石子二号/ Installation / 110 x 52 x 15 cm | 12.369 kg, Stoneware,
engobes, 2014 © Alexandra Tollet

Detail 细节：Eboulis II (Scree II) 小石子二号/ Installation / 110 x 52 x 15 cm | 12,369 kg,

Stoneware, engobes, 2014 © Alexandra Tollet

安妮•瓦尔德
Anne Verdier

Born in 1977
Based in Saint Victor sur Rhins, France

Anne Verdier studied ceramics in France and England and completed her training with two residencies in France and Poland. In her work as a fireclay sculptor, she plays with materials such as glazes, porcelain and stoneware, which she assembles and then burns at high temperature. Then she breaks these pieces, and at this exact instant the real sculpture is born, showing its lines and its shapes... Her work is a balance of precisely defined elements – the quality of the porcelain, the texture of the celadon – and the unpredictability of the burning and the breaking processes. She tries to understand the new hypotheses these transformations have to offer. 

AV3 / 30 x 25 x 11 cm, Porcelain, Glazes, Brick, Concrete, 2013 © DR

AV1 / 60 x 45 x 46 cm, Porcelain, Stoneware, Glazes, Wood, fired 1300°C, 2013 © DR