Lucien Petit (b. 1957)
Lucien Petit was born in 1957 in Sancerre, France, and studied industrial ceramics in Vierzon. In the 1970s he began exploring artistic approaches to terracotta production, notably of containers. Working out of different studios, he experimented in combining terracotta with a wide range of materials, including bronze, wood, steel, concrete, resins, plaster, paper, photographs, and collage. In the 1980s Petit began creating wood-fired ceramics in La Borne, a town renowned for its centuries-old tradition of wood-fired stoneware. He also collaborated on projects with his friend the sculptor Daniel Pontoreau, who proved a significant inspiration, and from 1994 to 2009 was assistant to renowned ceramic artist Jacqueline Lerat.
Along with his solid technical training, a strong interest in architecture helped foster Petit’s thematic concern with containers and their implied interior space. Utilizing mixed techniques and materials (wood, cardboard, resins, bronzes, and alloys) he began creating series of small-scale “houses” and shelters of various sorts, always playing with the balance of determining factors, i.e., full/empty, positive/negative, elevation/angle, organic/mineral. Each of his pieces is characterized by distinctive structural elements and highly detailed treatments. Installed on the ground, they invite speculation as to their use and history – like monoliths in a constantly changing landscape.
Petit continues to live near and fire his pieces in La Borne. In context of the town’s ceramic arts history, his work marks a shift from the anthropomorphic to the more abstract. He has also spent ten years exploring concepts for wood-fired sculptures, using clay mixtures he makes himself and adding different minerals to the surfaces of his pieces. He considers the impact of firing as crucial to his finished pieces, and to that end is in the process of designing a new type of kiln. With forty years of practice, Petit sometimes brings his experience into other disciplinary fields, including teaching. He has traveled and exhibited extensively in France and abroad, including the US, and has also created a number of monumental pieces for other artists.
Exhibitions:
2016
Exposition Grands Feux 2016, La Borne
J’ai rêvé le goût de la brique pile, Centre Céramique la Borne, La Box ENSA de
Bourges
Expo Centre Céramique, résidences La Borne, Fajro avec Bettina Samson
Chabram, Fragile, Centre d’art contemporain de Touzac
Journées de la céramique, St Sulpice, Paris
2015
Résidences d’artistes La Borne avec Bettina Samson
Expo, Ré-inventer la Nature, St Loup
Journées de la céramique, St Sulpice, Paris
Vente Piasa, Paris
2014
Expo Centre, céramique contemporaine, La Borne
Journées de la céramique, Paris
Expo, La Librairie, Sancerre
2013
La Gravière, Boucard, De la sculpture à l’architecture
Château d’eau à Bourges, de terre et d’eau
Festival Naori France à Bury, Montigny
Expo, Architectures Utopiques, Centre céramique La Borne
2012
Feux à volonté, Galerie l’Art et la Matière, Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye
2011
Galerie José Campo à Lausanne (Suisse)
Art Happening, Phoenix, AZ (USA)
2010
Galerie Le Kilomètre, La Borne
International Exibition of Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA (USA)
Rencontre céramique international La Borne
2009
Journée Européennes de la céramique, La Borne
International Exibition of Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA (USA)
2008
4ème Biennale d'art Contemporain de Bourges
International Exibition of Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA (USA)
2007
Château de St Brisson sur Loire (45)
La Borne s'enflamme, au Centre Céramique la Borne
Jardins de Chaumont sur Loire: Jardin S A Paysage, Essence, ça pousse
Art Happening, Phoenix, AZ (USA)
2005
Centre Régional d'Art Contemporain de Fontenoy, Histoires d'arbres
International Exibition of Fine Art, Palm Springs, CA (USA)
