Duo exhibition. 2025
Mendi, Anglet
Curators: Cécile Mestelan & Benjamin Artola
The exhibition presents the ceramic series Ur motela, created by Cécile Mestelan and Benjamin Artola between Portugal and the Basque Country.
The greenhouse basins in the Mendi garden are distinguished by a water movement similar to ocean tides.
Each object embodies this essential idea of slow water, encouraging us to synchronize ourselves with the natural cycles of life.
Solo exhibition. 2024
Aquarium, Poitiers
Curator: Fanny Guérineau
Photos: Collectif Acte
For the final presentation of this workshop, the students took part in installing an exhibition at the Aquarium, showcasing both their works and their research.
The workshop The Seed, the Insect and the Sun is a poetic reflection on the birth of the world.
A red lentil seed can evoke the shape of an orange sun — without the sun, no miracle is possible.
One might imagine that the sun itself could sprout like a seed as it disappears beyond the horizon.
The ephemeral transformation of a form is magical: in the germination of a seed, the hatching of an insect, or in the effects of a sunset on the sky. This relationship to time and to the search for light ultimately questions the most fundamental state of all life.
Group exhibition. 2021
Château Siran, Bordeaux
Curators: BAM Projects
Photos: Studio Florent Larronde
At the invitation of Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MECA, BAM Projects conceived and produced a project presenting works by the artists selected through the open call « Faire un geste », an art trail developed in partnership with six Margaux wine estates.
Artists:
- Benjamin Artola
- Corenthin Thilloy
- David Malek
- Mona Convert
Solo exhibition. 2017
L’Attrape-couleurs, Lyon
Curator: Anthony Lenoir
Photos: Morgane Demoreuille
Excerpt from a text by Anthony Lenoir:
“Entering the exhibition Where Do Shooting Stars Go? means letting the idea slip in that nothing is guaranteed, and coming out with a version of the world where strange questions arise: Why are halos square? Is the longest distance between two points the shortcut? How can one make things complicated when they could be simple? Must a stone thrown into water create anything other than circles? Where do shooting stars go?”
Solo exhibition. 2016
Crystal Palace, Bordeaux
Curator: Zebra 3
Photos: Fred Latherrade
Text by Zebra 3:
The motifs applied by the artist across the entire ribbon refer to his drawing practice — joyful and colorful — evoking artificial flies or tropical fish, a vibrant patchwork that enhances the hypnotic effect of the undulating movements. Unlike the gymnast’s routine, there is no spectacular “exit” at the end of the sequence, nor a final “strike” like that of a fly fisherman casting a line. Instead, there is only the perpetual mechanical movement of a ribbon endlessly spinning in the void — a harmless lure that captures the gaze, both charming and disorienting, inducing in the willing viewer a state close to trance.
Solo exhibition. 2015
ESAPB Gallery, Bayonne
Curator: ESAPB
The exhibition presents for the first time a selection of 250 marker drawings produced for the animated music video Misfits by the band Grand Soleil. Displayed independently and removed from their original function as background elements, the drawings become autonomous works that reinvent new stories.
Solo exhibition. 2015
Bonobolobo, Italy
Curator: Youri Fernandez
Photos: Clément Chouleur
Text by Youri Fernandez:
Progress is an exhibition born from the collaboration between FLVR and Benjamin Artola. It presents the three graphic boards we created together, as well as several works emerging from Benjamin Artola’s graphic research process around the idea of unnecessary forms of progress.Progress is an exhibition born from the collaboration between FLVR and Benjamin Artola. It presents the three graphic boards we created together, as well as several works emerging from Benjamin Artola’s graphic research process around the idea of unnecessary forms of progress.
Group exhibition. 2013
Museum of Modern Art, Saint-Étienne
Since things must be named, I draw, I tinker, and sometimes I have encounters that lead me to make drawings and constructions. An encounter is when something else and I come into contact. It might be a pineapple, a Charles Bronson look-alike, a soccer ball, a palm tree, or a shark.
After the encounter(s), connections must be created. That’s the hardest part. You have to make it seem like it worked — then quickly forget! You have to get by; short solitary climbs help. The narrative emerges in different forms. How can you know whether a shark’s fin hides a real shark?
Artists:
- Benjamin Artola
- Alexandre Lavet
- François Roux
- Varta Schneider
- Anaelle Vanel
- Jérémy Lopez
- Simon Collet