Lucien Petit

Lucien Petit

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)