Nicolas Momein

Nicolas Momein was born in Saint-Étienne in 1980, and lives and works in Paris. He initially trained as an upholsterer, before returning to his studies and graduating from the École Supérieure d'art et de design de Saint Etienne in 2011 and the Haute École d'Art et Design de Genève (HEAD) in 2012.

Nicolas Momein's work lies somewhere between sculpture and painting. He creates objects or paintings with hybrid forms, sometimes realistic, sometimes organic, often diverted from their original use or in metamorphosis. The materials he uses are also chosen for their particular properties (evocative of the artist's past-memory, linked to crafts and nature), and here too are at odds with their initial purpose: bulgum, rubber, horsehair, rockwool, soap, salt, vintage towels... These elements often enter into a process of recycling and exchange before or after their first exhibition.

The table lamp Bump the Lamp is presented at Private Choice for its 2023 edition. Bulgomme fabric (an evocation of his childhood) is generally used as a stain- and shock-resistant underlay. The bronze casting, created in close collaboration with the foundry, finely reproduces these folds, as well as the almost psychedelic patterns of the octagonal cells in the fabric. The organic shapes of the sculptures seem to shield the light source's rays. This creation was produced with the complicity of ColAAb, an art publisher founded by Aurélie Sarallier.

Presentation based on a text by Pascale Le Thorel for ColAAb.