The look of the artist at work in his composition

"Antoine Charbonnier "explores different fields, suggests and stages observations in nature or under the microscope in the form of paintings, sculptures or photos (but also experimental films) which draw the eye to a formal whole taking shape in works marked by fragility". Using the microscope and the lenses of cameras or cameras, he never ceases to invert the relationships of proportion. He makes appear in large format what our eyes hardly detect and brings to light lines, curves, movements, an unsuspected life which reveal by analogy the extraordinary proximity between the human and the vegetable. A way to bring back the man to the nature, to his environment and to remind him his condition of living being. To this end, we can cite for example, Corpus (2016-2018), an acrylic, ink and oil installation on polyane with wooden frames, whose translucent support allows us to exploit several points of view, of the cells of our organism, thus proposing a microscopic vision of our body: Naevi (2018), a set of 10 oil paintings on paper that explores a dermatological manifestation better known as a mole: Membranes (2015), a 1'30 experimental film that tracks the movements of organs under the skin or Transfer (2015) trichloroethylene prints on paper where it shows cells of a naked body photographed at high light intensity so as to reveal an abstract landscape.

Many of his installations are arranged to give a haptic dimension to the representation." All a relation between the seeing and the touching is established. Inside a device with the paces of a laboratory, the pieces echo and complete each other in a body-nature harmony".

Brigitte Saint-Georges

Extract from the study day "From the proliferation of glances to the beyond and beyond of the visible" The artist's look at the work in its composition, 2019


Art, between fiction and reality

After Scotland, China, Greece, it is in Nevers, at the Ducal Palace that art lovers and the works of Antoine Charbonnier crossed paths last Friday (July 6, 2018) during the opening of this exhibition between reality and fiction.

Antoine Charbonnier studied contemporary art at the Ecole Supérieure d'Art de Clermont-Ferrand and holds a national diploma in plastic arts and a certificate of higher studies in plastic expressions. This young artist from Nevers, eclectic, talented, observant and precise, arouses curiosity and presents a thoughtful and accomplished work of anatomical observation.

The artist questions himself, explores different fields, suggests and stages observations in nature or under the microscope in the form of paintings, sculptures or photographs that draw the eye to a formal organic whole taking shape in works marked by fragility. Everyone will be able to freely admire this work of research and experimentation, offering a variety of colors and materials, thanks to several exhibitions on different materials and techniques as well as large format installations, at the Fernand Chalandre Gallery in the Ducal Palace.

Editorial: Le Journal du Centre, article published July 10, 2018


Hidden to better be revealed


Anatomical observation is an inexhaustible field of research offering unsuspected forms and materials. Sometimes the observed elements lead to imagine others just as organic. The abstraction of the forms and the motives leads us on a ground between reality and fiction, between presence and absence.

Hidden to be better revealed

Antoine Charbonnier allows himself to be transported according to his desires and the constraints that orient his work towards one medium rather than another. Sometimes painting, sculpture or photography take shape and invest the space. A whole relationship between seeing and touching is established.

Inside a laboratory-like device, the works echo and complement each other in a body-nature harmony.

"The forms that I develop are mutually entwined in a dynamic whole, leaving room for imaginary worlds that border on the fantastic. Certain configurations recall the cross-sections observed on the plates of anatomical atlases such as those of André Vésale, which offer a variety of colors and materials that cannot remain inert. Witnessing an almost clinical attention, I propose correspondences between the plant kingdom, phantasmagorical and the body anatomy."