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| Xavier Fauche | |
|---|---|
| Name | Xavier Fauche |
| Birth date | 1971 |
| Birth place | Lyon, France |
| Occupation | Painter; Sculptor; Curator |
| Nationality | French |
Xavier Fauche is a contemporary French artist known for interdisciplinary practice spanning painting, sculpture, installation, and curatorial projects. His work engages with urban transformation, memory, and material recovery, intersecting with international art institutions, biennials, and academic programs. Fauche's projects have circulated across Europe, North America, and Asia, placing him within networks of museums, galleries, and artist residencies.
Born in Lyon in 1971, Fauche grew up amid the cultural landscapes of Lyon, Marseille, and Paris. He attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he studied under faculty linked to the legacy of Pierre Soulages and Yves Klein. He later undertook postgraduate study connected to the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and participated in exchange programs with institutions such as the Royal College of Art in London and the Pratt Institute in New York City. During this formative period he engaged with curatorial seminars at the Musée d'Orsay and took part in workshops affiliated with the Centre Pompidou and the Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain.
Fauche's professional trajectory includes studio practice, public commissions, and curatorial work. He held early solo exhibitions at galleries in Lyon, Paris, and Brussels and participated in group shows at venues such as the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the MACBA in Barcelona, and the TATE Modern in London. He has been invited to international biennials including the Venice Biennale, the São Paulo Biennial, and the Istanbul Biennial. Fauche served as artist-in-residence at programs run by the Cité Internationale des Arts, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the DAAD in Berlin. He has collaborated with architectural offices from OMA and Herzog & de Meuron on site-specific interventions, and his curatorial projects have been hosted by institutions such as the Palais de Tokyo, the Hayward Gallery, and the Kunsthalle Zürich.
Notable projects include a large-scale reclamation sculpture commissioned for a waterfront redevelopment in Marseille, a series of painted reliefs installed at a renovated industrial complex in Manchester, and a participatory installation presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. His exhibition "Reclaimed Atlas" toured major venues including the Serpentine Galleries and the Fondation Beyeler. Fauche contributed work to thematic exhibitions on urban memory alongside artists like Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger, and Jessica Stockholder. He has published essays in exhibition catalogues produced by the Guggenheim Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art. His collaborations with playwrights and choreographers brought his work to festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Venice Film Festival.
Fauche's practice synthesizes material recovery, architectural fragments, and painterly gesture. He cites influences including Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, and Robert Rauschenberg, while engaging with later positions such as Thomas Hirschhorn, Marta Minujín, and Christian Boltanski. His palette and surface treatments reference Paul Cézanne and Wassily Kandinsky even as his three-dimensional assemblages align with projects by Louise Bourgeois and Donald Judd. Fauche often sources materials from demolition sites tied to urban redevelopment plans by authorities in Lyon, Marseille, Berlin, and Barcelona, situating his work in dialogues involving institutions like the European Investment Bank and municipal preservation bodies. He has lectured on intersections between artistic practice and urban policy at universities including Sorbonne University, Columbia University, and the University of Oxford.
Fauche has received prizes and fellowships from major cultural foundations: a national grant from the Ministère de la Culture (France), a fellowship from the Fondation Cartier, an award from the Soros Arts Fund, and a residency stipend via the Arts Council England. He was shortlisted for the Prix Marcel Duchamp and nominated for the Hugo Boss Prize. His public commissions received recognition from municipal authorities in Lyon and Marseille, and he has been awarded honorary lectureships by the Royal Academy of Arts and the Académie des Beaux-Arts.
Fauche divides his time between studios in Lyon, a project space in Berlin, and an atelier in Barcelona. He has mentored emerging artists through programs at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, the Royal College of Art, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Critics and historians compare his influence to contemporaries active in late 20th- and early 21st-century practice, situating his contributions alongside figures associated with the Arte Povera movement and postmodern assemblage. His archive is slated for donation to a public repository affiliated with the Bibliothèque nationale de France and a research collection at the Getty Research Institute.
Category:French contemporary artists Category:People from Lyon