Bio
Bertrand Fompeyrine was born in Toulouse (France) in 1987.
He studied architecture in France, Norway, and Germany, before graduating as an architect in Paris in 2010.
He worked as an architect and set designer before exploring other creative fields, and now live and work as a photographer and multidisciplinary artist in Paris and Mexico.
He likes to explore the full realm of creation at every scale, to be close to the process of making objects.
Most of his art and design work is strongly related to Arts & Crafts. When making pieces on his own, he prefer to use scrap and cheap materials that he find or rescue.
Process
He is a collector, gatherer, observer and designer; always being attentive to the impact of hisy production.
His designs are marked by his childhood in the South and its colours; his eye was sharpened by his training as an architect, and by his regular visits to Mexico.
He have observed that everything thrown on the lands or in the seas reappears, carried by the wind or the waves, in the trees or on the beaches.
He makes sure to provide a positive impact for this waste, in order to give it a second chance.
He don’t see the point in producing new materials when many already exist, and can be reused.
This is for him an infinite source of inspiration, because he is convinced that creation is both born from encounter and constraint.
His desire to create is instinctive, driven by the materials around him, and arises from a need to produce something with little premeditation.
He combines sand (a natural material collected during his travels), with polystyrene waste (collected in the street or on construction sites).
He mainly work on sculpture, furniture or painting, in order to build a collection of decorative objects.
He loves the lightness and fragility of polystyrene, and the uniqueness of sand, its appearance, size, and colour, which vary from one territory to another.
He proceed by covering the polystyrene form with layers of sand. By working on the contrast of something that looks heavy but is actually light, he appeal to illusion.
By mixing a rocky and earthy appearance with colour, he plays on this ambiguity between nature and artifice.
His approach is committed, but does not want to be constrained by labels.
He is convinced that everyone, on their own scale, can create with few things, and encourage this through his work.
Award
2023_Evolution and Innovation_AD & Range Rover Awards "(re)inventing design"_France_
Residency
2022_Ferme Km33_by Studio KO_Agafay desert_Marocco_
2019_Massa Stories_by Margaux Dehry_Massa_Marocco_
Commission
2024_Lonni Paul Design_Los Angeles_United States_
2023_Kelly Wearstler_Los Angeles_United States_
2022_Hôtel Anantara Plaza Nice_By David Collins Studio_London_England_
2022_Maison Margiela Fragrances_Paris_France_
2022_Odunpazari Modern Museum_Eskisehir_Turkey_
2022_Hôtel TRIBE Paris Saint-Ouen_By Maison Malapert_Paris_France_
2020_Hôtel Renaissance Bordeaux_By Maison Malapert_Paris_France_
2019_Restaurant La Butte_By Amélie Maison d'Art_Finistère_France_
2019_Le Bon Marché_Paris_France_
2019_Hôtel Rosewood_Puebla_Mexico_
Exhibition
2024_Creatures Of Comfort_Odunpazari Modern Museum_Eskisehir_Turkey_
2023_Répertoire de formes_Galerie Olivier Castaing_Paris_France_
2023_Manifesta x Galerie Olivier Castaing_Manifesta_Lyon_France_
2023_Architects at Play_Pavillon Sicli_Geneva_Switzerland_
2023_PAD Paris x galerie Olivier Castaing_Jardin des Tuileries_Paris_France_
2023_AD & Range Rover Awards_Kimton St Honoré_Paris_France_
2023_Deja Vu_Gallery Chic By Accident_Mexico City_Mexico_
2023_Salon Cosa #popup_LUST_Mexico City_Mexico_
2022_Salon Cosa #popup_Hotel El Ganzo_Los Cabos_Mexico_
2022_Unique Design x Paris_Garage Amelot_Paris_France_
2022_Cabinet de Virtuosité #2_Galerie Philia_Fondation Alain Ellouz_France_
2022_Salon Cosa #3_Centro Historico_Mexico City_Mexico_
2022_C.R.E.A.M._Galerie Philia_Laethem-Saint-Martin_Belgium_
2022_Neo Maya_Gallery Chic By Accident_Mexico City_Mexico_
2022_Jean Nouvel : Racines Aériennes_Galerie Philia_Saint Jean Cap Ferrat_France_
2022_Unique Design x Savannah_Trustees Garden_Savannah_USA_
2021_Vasijas Vessels_Garage Dos Casas_San Miguel de Allende_Mexico_
2021_Design Parade Toulon #5_Villa Noailles_Hyères_France_
2021_Alone Together Raquira_Riviera_Milan_Italy_
2021_Summer Camp_Gallery Chic By Accident_Mexico City_Mexico_
2020_Salon Cosa #1_Jardin 17_Mexico City_Mexico_
