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Nicolas DHERVILLERS

Nicolas Dhervillers works in the fields of photography and drawing. Since 2016, the artist has been merging photography and dry pastel, which he shapes with his fingers. His Remake series consists of hyper-zoomed pastels, taken from fragments of distant horizons, based on photographs. The work is an attempt at recreation, a « remake ». As a nod to his past as a photographer, the horizontal bands act as evidence of the stages of creation.

Also presented during the photo edition of Private Choice in November 2024, his Crossfade series transcends the simple ambiguity of the medium. The artist juxtaposes archival photographs, scanned and printed, onto works he creates with dry pastel. This innovative technique confronts modern and contemporary photographic processes, bringing them together towards a pictorial medium.

The planes overlap and link together across the canvases, evoking a cinematographic language: the title « Crossfade » is borrowed from the Seventh Art. Interested in the history of painting, Nicolas Dhervillers also draws inspiration from Luminism and the Hudson River School. These two American artistic movements of the 19th century were also influenced by the advent of photography at the beginning of the industrial era, disrupting the perception of nature and landscape. Captivated by the documentary value of the canvases representing the natural areas of the American West, Nicolas Dhervillers explores the digital archives of American museums in search of images combining historical, aesthetic and narrative qualities. Choosing seascapes, he creates dreamlike works with a vaporous, almost ghostly atmosphere. Like fading memories, these evanescent testimonies slip into the realm of dreams.

Biography

Nicolas Dhervillers is a French artist born in 1981. He lives and works in Paris.

After studying photography and multimedia at the Paul-Valéry Montpellier University and the University of Paris 8, Nicolas Dhervillers made a name for himself following a historic commission from the Centre Pompidou in Metz. Inspired by cinematographic, theatrical and pictorial writing, Nicolas Dhervillers' approach breaks down the barriers of the photographic medium. Represented by the School Gallery, Galerie Dilecta and Galerie Provost Hacker, based in Paris, he also collaborates with art centers and international museums.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

  • 2005 / Master's degree in cinema and performing arts, Paul Valéry Montpellier 3 University
  • 2003 / Master's degree in Science and Technology in photography and multimedia, University of Paris 8

SOLO EXHIBITIONS – SELECTION

  • 2022 / Art Center – Le Mur Moret – Under the layer, Moret-sur-Loing

  • 2022 / Galerie Dilecta, Crossfade, Paris

  • 2022 / Musée des beaux-arts de Troyes, Head to head with Gustave Le Gray, Troyes

  • 2021 / Centre d’art contemporain, CAC Passages, From one bank to the other, Troyes

  • 2020 / Musée de Picardie, Amiens

  • 2020 / Exhibition in partnership with the MUCEM, Marseille
  • 2020 / Pullman Hotels, series of 9 exhibitions in partnership with the Barter club
  • 2017 / Fondation Louis Moret, Martigny, Switzerland
  • 2015 / Ballart International Foto Biennale, Australia
  • 2014 / Gemeente Museum Helmond, Netherlands
  • 2013 / Museum of Sacred Art, Saint-Véroce
  • 2012 / Art Center Volklingen Hutte, Germany 2012 – Maison des Arts de Créteil
  • 2011 / Arsenal, commissioned by Centre Pompidou-Metz
  • 2011 / Ferme Asile Art Center, Switzerland
  • 2011 / Château des Bouillants, Dammarie-les-Lys
  • 2011 / Levallois Photo Festival, Levallois-Perret

GROUP EXHIBITIONS – SELECTION

  • 2022 / Private Choice n°11 Life lines, Paris, France
  • 2021 / Private Choice n°10 Odyssey, Paris, France
  • 2019 / Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
  • 2019 / Serres de Pantin, Jardinons les possibles
  • 2019 / Minneapolis, United States
  • 2019 / La Montgolfière, Paris
  • 2019 / Art-O-Rama, Marseille
  • 2017 / Valais Art Biennial, Switzerland
  • 2016 / EAC Les Roches, Contemporary Art Space, Le Chambon sur Lignon
  • 2015 / Triennial of photography and architecture, Brussels
  • 2015 / Le Radar Art Center, Bayeux
  • 2015 / Mallet-Stevens Foundation, Paris
  • 2014 / Photography Festival, Geneva Château du Rivau, France
  • 2013 / Galerie du Jour agnès b., Marseille
  • 2012 / Valais Art and History Museum, Switzerland
  • 2012 / Galerie du Jour agnès b., Hong Kong
  • 2012 / Pingyao International Festival, Pingyao, China

AWARDS & RESIDENCIES

  • 2018-2019 / Residency in Marseille
  • 2011 / Residency, Ferme Asile, Switzerland
  • 2010 / Zoom, Photography Salon Prize
  • 2009 / Arcimboldo, Special Jury Prize

COLLECTIONS

Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Missouri, USA | Camper Museum, USA | Collection Pullman Artothèque du Valais, Switzerland | Musée d’art et d’histoire, Valais, Switzerland | Collection Raymond Weil, Switzerland | Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain de la ville de Paris Centre Pompidou-Metz | Bibliothèque Nationale de France | Collection Fnac, France | Château du Rivau, France | Fonds de dotation agnès b. | Fondation Delsemme, Belgium | Gemeente museum, Helmond, Netherlands

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