Photo credit © Cyrille Weiner
Etienne REY
A visual artist, lives and works in Marseille, France.
The reading of reality by the viewer is the main subject of the work of Etienne Rey. Through his installations and sculptures, he distorts what seemed to be the basis for understanding a given context. In his work, it is above all a question of perception, of point of view and of a form of sensory experience. Light, whether natural reflecting on filtering and diffracting materials, or artificial playing with darkness and mist, is an essential vector of this metamorphosis. Etienne Rey uses the optical properties of glass or patterns to open the frames of the apprehension of an environment, so his installations when they are deployed on the scale of a facade or a square redefine the materiality. Screen, frame, blur, turbulence, vortex or reflection are some of the items of his plastic vocabulary. They are the tools of this transfiguration of reality.
His work is represented by the Denise René Gallery. His works are approached in an in situ dimension in direct link with the spaces in which his work is presented. He also develops perennial pieces in the public space.
Altérité (Alterity) is composed of two framed surfaces alternating mirror and concrete. The installation creates a visual device of writing porous to the environment in order to articulate from multiple points of view of the architecture, the "urban square" and the surroundings. 1% for arts in the public construction on the theme of the invention of writing / Education authority of Aix-Marseille for the new University Library 2016 / 2x93m2 © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
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Vortex, in situ artwork, draws a spiral created by air turbulences. It exhibits the state of a natural strength, the wind, within the architecture, protected space. Result of a flow modeling, this installation figures a whirlpool movement in space. Commission of Art Lease for Axa & the Courtyard Marriott Paris Gare de Lyon Architecture: Studios Architecture 2018 / 500 x 360 x 330 cm © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
Etienne Rey's artworks create experiences of space where light, vision and displacement modulate our perception. This work pursued a continuity of the issues introduced by Victor Vasarely, in particular on the direct relation in a perceptual dimension. Contemporary artist guested to participate in the exhibitions in homage to Vasarely, he will propose Inversion at the Vouland Museum in Avignon. 2016 / 10m high © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris / photo © Fabrice Lepeltier
![FLOU N°1 [BLUR N°1], Elasticity](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/35b4bf_27e3b25f69e344c1b5d6f1b5f584a69c~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/35b4bf_27e3b25f69e344c1b5d6f1b5f584a69c~mv2.jpg)
A sail of mirror tightened between two trees vibrates with the air. By this vibration, the tension creates a relaxation which generates visual transformations. EPHEMERAL ARTS #9 / DETENTE, MARSEILLE (FR) 2017 / 300 x 800 cm © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
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This in situ artwork consists of a large monochromatic surface of approximately 35 m2 in screen-printed glass which activates and reveals interference with the environment, depending on the movement of the observer. Interference brings out harmonics which fluctuate according to distance, position and natural light. 1% for ar - Permanent commission from the Department of Seine Saint-Denis for the Christine de Pisan middle school in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Fr) 2020 © Etienne Rey, Adagp Paris
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Made of space and light, the art installation is intended to touch our perception and to produce a singular experience at the rhythm of days and seasons. By being conceived in a close relationship with the architecture, the artwork composed of optical walls deploys in the space, from the entrance to the heart of the garden. Logirem and Logirem Foundation for the Saint-Lazare, Marseille, France 2017 / 7 modules of 220 x 250 cm © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
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Turbulences proposes an experience, that of a landscape composed by light reflections, immaterial result of the relationship between water, light and air. Such the artificial reconstruction of a disappeared water, the artwork exposes evanescent states of air movements and light reflections in perpetual transformation and reveals the unpredictable and chaotic character of the phenomenon of turbulence. 2018 / Sound composer: Wilfried Wendling © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
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This sculpture, a mirror conical hexagon, captures light to reveal an uncertain space, between plan and infinity. 2014 Show-Off / Variation (FIAC Off) - Espace Blancs Manteaux, Paris Le Marais 6th artistic contest of the Chamber of Trade and Industry of Marseille Provence - Palais de la Bourse, Marseille 2014 / 92 x 145 x 150 cm (with base) © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
When light becomes matter... The visitor is submerged in a misty space sculpted by sound and light. During this sensory experience, ordinarily invisible materiality is made tangible. A dynamic space was designed to react to the variations in the installation, constructing a mobile architecture which reshapes our relationship with space. Ososphère festival 2012 Vasarely Foundation exhibition 2013 NEMO festival 2013 VIA festival 2014 © Etienne Rey Adagp Paris
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