36 ARTIST PROFILE NICOLAS VIONNET
Nicolas Vionnet
N
icolas Vionnet opens up a field of tension with his playful irritations. His public installations have an almost oxymoronic quality as they interfere yet also seamlessly integrate within their environment. Themes of change and artificiality are approached in his work, as he highlights ironies within modern aesthetics; such as in his creation of a man-made grass island, placed within an already pre-fabricated park. Through a fundamental confrontation with the history of the space, Vionnet leads to a subtler and more precise intervention. Vionnet’s paintings in acrylic share a similar influence to his installations, whether he is
Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear, 2013 deer antler, car rear view mirror, 25 x 60 x 30 cm
painting disruptive grey strips across his canvas, or allowing coloured surfaces to drip according to the laws of their own gravity. Living and working in the Zurich area, Vionnet gained his Master of Fine Art degree in 2009 from the Bauhaus-Universität after studying the university’s Public Art and New Artistic Strategies programme. He has exhibited internationally including at the Gallery marke.6 at Neues Museum Weimar, the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art and the Moscow International Biennale for Young Art. nicolasvionnet.ch atelier@nicolasvionnet.ch