Bernard Calet

Drawing heavily from references to history, literature, music and film, the permanent foundation of Bernard Calet’s work is based on issues relating to architecture in the broad sense of the word and how it influences our lifestyles and actions. Questions pertaining to space are constantly present, whether through the use of scale variations, translation, displacement or, conceptually-speaking, through the manipulation of words and ideas. In his sculptures and installations, the artist subtly uses shadow play and reflections as visual tools capable of penetrating space and thus revealing its volume. Armed with a sharp knowledge of town planning, ecology and collective living, his works raise fundamental issues relating to our way of inhabiting spaces, the connections between private and public spheres, the relationships between the intimacy of the indoors and the exposure of the outdoors.

Excerpt from a text by Isabelle Reiher, 2020
Translated by Lucy Pons, 2024