DECO
DIALOGUE
Faded Glory
Firework
Ground Loop
Illusions
Prism
Urban Nautilus
Ain't Got No Troubles
Who Want Sky
Others
Biography
The contemporary photography of artist Matthieu Venot combines abstraction, colour, a certain minimalism and a keen sharpness. This contemporary photographer is beginning to make a name for himself in the contemporary art world.
Matthieu Venot: a creative and optimistic photographer
Creative by nature, it was after leaving his music group that Matthieu Venot took up photography at the age of almost 35. A native of Brest, he began his photographic work with the desire to show his city from a different angle. Looking at the Ain’t got no troubles series, the eye is immediately drawn to the pastel colours and line work: the silhouette of a yellow building stands out against a blue sky, an ochre wall is pierced by a narrow window with turquoise reflections… Only going out on sunny days, Matthieu Venot uses the immaculate sky as a studio backdrop. For him, it’s a way of keeping the composition of his images simple and graphic. The lines cross and overlap, the shapes stand out against the blue background until we forget what we’re looking at: a roof, a wall, a railing, a balcony.
This fine weather also means that the colours are more powerful. Colour plays a key role in Matthieu Venot’s contemporary art photography. The photographer takes us away from the dreariness of Brittany and transforms our vision of the city to the point of evoking images of California or Florida. For the artist, the choice of these pastel colours is a way of conveying his optimism through his photos.
Very intuitive, Matthieu Venot works very much by instinct. On the subject of the photograph Untitled III, from the Who Want Sky series, which shows the balconies of a building cutting through a pastel blue sky, the contemporary art photographer tells us: “When I took this image, I knew it was great. It works well, with its five vertically aligned balconies. I passed this building by chance, came back and immediately saw the photo“. It was an obvious choice for the artist, and one that can be attributed to the sharpness of his eye.
Matthieu Venot’s photography focuses on architectural details. By adopting constructivist points of view, the artist succeeds in creating abstract, geometric images.
CV
Solo exhibitions
- 2022 – Solo show “Ici & ailleurs“, Grande Galerie de la Maison régionale d’architecture des Pays de la Loire, Nantes, (France)
- 2022 – Solo show “Exhibition : Photographs by Matthieu Venot Landivisiau“, Cultural space Lucien-Prigent Landivisiau, (France)
- 2021 – « Un jeu d’enfant » Espace Lucien-Prigent Exhibition, Landivisiau(France)
- 2020 – 2021 – Lines and colours, solo show, Victor Segalen University, Brest (France)
- 2018 – “Couleurs“, exhibition la Halle au Sucres, Dunkerque (France)
- 2017 – “Pastel Perspectives“, Fine Art Museum, Nigni Tagil (Russia)
- 2016 – “Pastel Perspectives” Solo Show at Space Place Gallery, Nigni Tagil (Russia)
- 2016 – “BRST” solo show, Mac Orlan Cultural Space, Brest (France)
- 2014 – “Le Grand Bazar” solo show organized by Kuuutch, Les Etablis, Brest (France)
Group exhibitions
- 2024 – The 4th edition of the open-air photography exhibition, group show, Châteaulin (France)
- 2022 – Group show “Eléments” at Le Comœdia, Brest (France)
- 2019 – “Beaux-Arts Ligne et Figure“, Cultural space Condorcet, Viry-Chatillon (France)
- 2018 – “Constructions-Déconstructions“, exhibition at the Villa Violet, Paris (France)
- 2017 – Salon de la Photo, with Artistics Gallery, Paris (France)
- 2015 – Fotofever Art Fair with Artistics gallery, Paris (France)
- 2015 – #emptyelysee exhbition at the Palais de l’Elysée (home of the French Presidency), Paris (France)
- 2015 – “Perspective Carrée” group show organized by lesphotographes.org, La Galerie d’Art, Paris (France)
Awards & Residencies
- 2017 – Moscow International Foto Award, Architecture/Industrial, Silver
- 2017 – 1st place in non-professional Advertising at PX3, Prix de la photographie, Paris
- 2016 – Gram Awards
Articles
Matthieu Venot signs the cover of GQ Style!
Matthieu Venot, whose work we have been exhibiting for nearly 3 years, has taken the front cover photo of Tyler, The Creator for GQ Style magazine! A...
Introducing Matthieu Venot
Originally from Brest in France, this self-taught artist photographs his home-town from a rather different angle: full of colour and geometric shapes...
