Louise Frydman

Louise Frydman (1989). The work of the French artist Louise Frydman is inextricably linked to the impression of delicacy and fragility associated with the use of ceramics and white porcelain. It is all the more surprising that this remarkable artist originally studied graphic design at the ESAG-Penninghen art school in Paris and later photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. She began her artistic career by creating light and delicate compositions from white paper, whose aesthetics of matte whiteness and fragility later inspired her further work. In 2015, she began to devote herself to ceramics and created the monumental mobile installation La Fée des Pétales for the courtyard of the Hôtel de Croisilles in Paris in the studio of Jean-François Reboul. Hundreds of suspended, very subtle ceramic objects, forming a 17-meter-long installation reminiscent of floating petals, together with the architecture of the building, created an unusual experience evoking the fragility of existence and the transience of nature. It was her unique and sensitive realisations that immediately caught the attention of collectors and designers around the world. In 2017 and 2019, her work was exhibited at the Révélations Biennial at the Grand Palais in Paris. She started collaborating with luxury fashion houses such as Bonpoint, Hermès, Clarins and Dior. In June 2019, the Minister of Culture Franck Riester awarded her the ‘1 immeuble, 1 oeuvre’ (‘1 building, 1 work of art’) award for her collaboration with Vinci Immobilier. In the same year, her work was selected for the ICAA Blanc de Chine International Competition and exhibited in Beijing in August 2019. It is now part of the ICAA Art Collection. Her bas-reliefs and sculptures are mainly inspired by very intimate experiences of being in nature. Louise’s work presents the viewer with an imaginary balance between the transience and vulnerability and, on the other hand, the monumentality of nature. In addition to the sculptural processing of the material itself, Frydman’s work with light is also important: ‘My work is composed as much of ceramic as it is composed of light. It can almost disappear in a soft atmosphere or become completely dramatic with project or sending black shadows. Photography taught me how to look at the light and play with it.’