LITTLE BIG ART – PHILIPPE FAVIER

PRESS RELEASE

Philippe Favier (b. 1957) is one of the most original voices in contemporary French art of this decade. Previously, his work has only been exhibited in the Nordic countries during the XII Paris Biennale retrospective, held at the Sara Hildén Art Museum and Oslo’s Kunstnernes Hus in 1983, focusing exclusively on his earlier works. Since then, Favier has transitioned from wall-spanning transfer collage compositions to a new technique: paintings executed on irregular fragments of glass. In recent years, his innovative series of etchings and glass paintings framed by repurposed tin cans have added new dimensions to his art.

Favier deliberately chooses the smallest possible scale for his works. The intricate details of his earlier paper collages were easy to overlook, often mistaken for stains on walls. His newer “glass paintings” rarely exceed 20 centimeters in size. These pieces intentionally draw viewers close, demanding focused attention before revealing their magical worlds. Favier’s works convey a sheer joy in image-making—a kind of playfulness and immediacy often associated with children’s art. However, in Favier’s case, this stems from a deliberate selection of imagery and associations, occupying an intermediate space between intellectual awareness and sensory experience.

Philippe Favier avoids confining his works within strict frames. His paper-based creations expand across walls as visual poems and narratives. Paintings on glass fragments can be viewed both as installations and as standalone pieces. Despite their small scale—or perhaps because of it—these works place significant demands on the space around them. Their intensity effectively dominates their surroundings, imbuing the environment with a renewed sense of spirit.

Much like his earlier paper collages, which provide viewers with only suggestive elements to construct a “narrative,” Philippe Favier’s “fossilized” glass fragments compel us to perceive our world—our anthill—from new perspectives. These works demand an archaeologist’s ability to reconstruct our surrounding reality from the details and clues “frozen” on the glass fragments. His paintings on glass evoke a sense of preservation and eternity, yet the mere possibility of a crack or break serves as a stark reminder of sudden threats and the potential for total destruction. This contradiction vividly forces us onto a universal level, confronting the finiteness of our existence—and our responsibility. At the same time, the microscopic scrutiny these small works require reveals grotesque yet mundane themes of life, conveyed with humor and irony.

In Finland, Philippe Favier’s exhibition is presented in two distinct forms and spaces. Pori Art Museum provides the setting for a broad, retrospective exhibition where the dialogue between space and artworks takes on a conceptual dimension. The museum’s exhibition hall becomes its own universe, with Philippe Favier’s paper collages, “glass fragments,” and “tin cans” subtly unifying it. At the Nordic Art Center’s Gallery Augusta in Suomenlinna, a smaller and more intimate collection is displayed. Concurrently, some of Favier’s works will be transferred in May to Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Oslo as part of a major French art exhibition.

The organization of Philippe Favier’s exhibitions in Finland has been supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Arts Division (Association Française d’Action Artistique). The exhibition commissioner in France is art historian Jacques Beauffet from the Musée d’Art Moderne in Saint-Étienne. Works have been loaned by private collectors as well as Musée National d’Art Moderne (Paris), FRAC Rhône-Alpes, F.N.A.C. (Paris), Musée d’Art Moderne (Saint-Étienne), and Musée Toulon.

Pori Art Museum: February 20 – March 20, 1988
Nordic Art Center, Gallery Augusta: April 29 – May 29, 1988

Publication:
ISBN 951-9355-18-9 Philippe Favier
Pori Art Museum 20.2.-20.3.1988
Photographs: Yves Bresson (art works), Hervé Nègre
Translation: Helena Woirhaye
Traduction: Andre Boullenger
Lay-out: Philippe Favier, Hilkka Kuusijärvi
100PRINT, Satakunnan Kirjateollisuus, Pori 1988

Translated with ChatGPT