Sébastien Bayet
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Biography
Renowned French painter Sébastien Bayet enters the North American market for the first time with a compelling body of works created at his studio in Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. These works have distilled compositions, with more atmospheric space and muted palettes than earlier works, but they retain discernible chords that tie them to that chapter, during which he explored appropriating, then reimagining, dramatic masterworks by titans of European art history.
After a series of paintings featuring religious portraits or artists' studios, Bayet turned his attention to the paintings of great masters such as Goya, Velasquez or Da Vinci. He essentially duplicated their famous portraits, replacing the famous figures with their skeletons, and their luxurious textiles with bits of paper and fabric. The resulting works are haunting as they convey a strong commentary on history as well the materialistic nature of our present culture. All this work was created in his studio in France.
Born in 1969, Bayet lives between Reims, France, and Madagascar, and splits his creative practice between the two locations. During the year, he alternates living 3 months at a time in each of his homes /studios. Obsessed with materials and texture, he creates works mixing fabric and oil paint, vacillating between figurative works and those that are more abstract and minimalistic. In all his work, he demonstrates a voracious appetite for an almost archaeological excavation of time and space.
When Bayet is based in Madagascar, where he is simply known as, “The Artist” - since he is the only artist, he enjoys active participation in the marketplace where native villagers present the sails from their tiny boats known as Pirogues for sale. His curatorial eye selects from the old, patched and stained sails that are brought to market - choosing those whose colors and patches interest him most. These weathered materials are embedded with the travels and labors of the native Vezo fishermen. Bayet attaches these sail/shrouds to his canvas where they become the field for painting and drawing memory sketches of his studio in France, creating works that become as much artifact as painting.
The entire process is Sebastien’s work is laced with metaphysical meaning as the works collapse the distance of thousands of miles into one present moment. Indeed, his works suggest the collapse of millennia and cultures into one another. In the simple but richly textured paintings created in Madagascar, Bayet embraces memory - light streams through the windows of his Reims Studio or at times the scene takes place after dark. Time is also collapsed between the two studios when Bayet returns to France where we can see the fragments of the pirogue sails appear in his works created there.
Solo Exhibition History
2021
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
2020
· Castle of the Tour d’Aigues (La Tour d’Aigues, France)
2019
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
· Saint-Pierre- la-Cour Collegiate Church (Le Mans, France)
2018
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
2015
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
· Rize Gallery (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2014
· Rize Gallery (Knokke-Heist, Belgium)
· AD Galerie (Montpellier, France)
2013
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
· Salle de la Station (Laon, France)
· Rize Gallery (Laren, Netherlands)
2012
· Galerie Anne Perré (Paris / Rouen, France)
· Jean de la Fontaine High school gallery (Château-Thierry, France)
· Rize Gallery (Naarden, Netherlands)
2011
· Galerie Anne Perré (Paris/Rouen, France)
· Cathedral (Noyon, France)
· Abbey (Essômes sur Marne, France)
· Rize Gallery (Laren, Netherlands)
· Museum of Modern Religious art of the basilica of Koekelberg (Brussels, Belgium)
2010
· Saint-Jacques space (Saint-Quentin, France)
· Antoine Lécuyer Museum (Saint-Quentin, France)
· Templar Chapel (Laon, France)
· Cathedral, Holy week with Monsignor Di Falco (Gap, France)
2009
· University Institute for Teacher Training (Laon, France)
· Cloister of the General Council of the Aisne (Laon, France)
2008
· Contemporary art gallery at Jean de la Fontaine college (Charleville-Mézières, France)
· Contemporary art gallery at Scamaroni college (Charleville-Mézières, France)
2005
· Higher School of Applied Art (Troyes, France)
2004
· Henri Lannoye Foundation (Bornem, Belgium)
· Contemporary art gallery at Monge High school (Charleville-Mézières, France)
2002
· Fourteenth cultural night (Nancy, France)
· Henri Lannoye Foundation (Bornem, Belgium)
1999
· INTRAMUROS Gallery (Charleville-Mézières, France)
· Museum of the battle of Rocroi
1997
· Dinant space (Charleville-Mézières, France)
· Artist-in-residence in Saint-Rémi High school (Charleville-Mézières, France)
Group Exhibition History
2020
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
2019
· Art to Be Gallery (Lille, France)
2017
· AD Galerie (Crans-Montana, Switzerland / Montpellier, France)
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
2016
· Bonnet / Van der Sluis Gallery (Venice, Italy)
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
· AD Galerie (Crans-Montana, Switzerland / Montpellier, France)
2015
· AD Galerie (Montpellier, France)
· Bonnet / Van der Sluis Gallery (Venice, Italy)
· 3W Gallery (Reims, France)
2014
· Rize Gallery (Amsterdam / Knokke-Heist, Belgium)
2013
· Cathedral of the Netherlands / Rize Gallery (Netherlands)
· AD Galerie (Montpellier, France)
2011
· Galerie Olivier Nouvellet (Paris, France)
· Trianon (Paris, France)
2010
· Museum of Art and Archaeology, cloister of the Municipal Library (Laon, France)
· Invitations from artists by the Picardy region (France)
2009
· Museum-Arsenal (Soissons, France)
· Gunpowder depot at Claudel High school (Laon, France)
2008
· Showcase of the General Council of the Ardennes (France)
· Museum (Soissons, France)
2007
· Crid’art contemporary art center (Amnéville-les-Thermes, France)
· Invitations from artists by the Picardy region (France)
2006
· Arthur Rimbaud museum (Charleville Mézières)
Contemporary Art Fairs
2019
· Art Up ! (Art to Be Gallery / Lille, France)
· Art Elysées (Art to Be Gallery / Paris, France)
2018
· Art Up ! (Art to Be Gallery / Lille, France)
· Art Paris Art Fair (Art to Be Gallery / Paris, France)
· Art Elysées (Art to Be Gallery / Paris, France)
2017
· Art up ! (Art to Be Gallery/ Lille, France)
· Art Paris Art Fair (Art to Be Gallery/ Paris, France)
· Art Elysées (Art to Be Gallery/ Paris, France)
2016
· Art Up ! (Art to Be Gallery/ Lille, France)
2015
· Art Up ! (Art to Be Gallery, AD Galerie / Lille, France)
· St-Art (Art to Be Gallery, AD Galerie/ Strasbourg, France)
2014
· Lille Art Fair (Art to Be Gallery, AD Galerie / Lille, France)
· St-Art (Art to Be Gallery, AD Galerie/ Strasbourg, France)
2013
· Raw Art Fair (Rize Gallery / Rotterdam, Netherlands)
· Art Warehouse (Rize Gallery / Rotterdam, Netherlands)
· Art Laren (Rize Gallery / Laren, Netherlands)
· Lille Art Fair (AD Galerie / Lille, France)
· St-Art (Art to Be Gallery, AD Galerie, Anne Perré Galerie / Strasbourg, France)
2012
· Raw Art Fair (Rize Gallery / Rotterdam, Netherlands)
· Lille Art Fair (Rize Gallery / Lille, France)
2011
· Art Paris Art Fair (Anne Perré Galerie / Paris, France)
2002
· Lineart (Galerie Sculpturama / Ghent, Belgium)