Thierry Martenon
biography |
portfolio | artists listing
b. 1967, Grenoble, France
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Fleur & Charles Bressler Collection
French National Museum, France
Shirley & Tim Kochman Collection
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2007 Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Solo Exhibition,Galerie Courant d’Art, Revel, France
Coming of Age: Emerging and Established Wood Artists, Woodturning Center,
Philadelphia, PA
Man Made: In the Natural World, Wexler Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Shy Boy, She Devil, and ISIS, The Art of Conceptual Craft Selections From
The Wornick Collection, Boston, MA
2006 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Maison & Objet, Paris, France
Crossroads of Arts, Lalouvesc, France
Connection, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN
2005 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Philadelphia, PA
2004-06 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2004 Maison & Objects, Paris, France
International Meeting, Emma Lake Collaboration, Saskatoon, Canada
Turned Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 allTURNative : Form & Spirit, WoodTurning Center Philadelphia, PA
2002-03 Du Coeur a l' ecorce, Itinerant Exhibition, France & Europe
2002 Le Bois Tourne et Detourne, Ateliers D' Art de France, Paris, France
5eme Biennale des Metiers d' Arts, Lyon, France
2000-01 Artisa, Grenoble, France
2000 Nimagine, Nimes, France
Les Artisanales, Chartres, France
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My work consists of an aesthetic search for the shape and the material. The outline of the pieces is thought over according to simple and pure lines that endow the object with some serenity. The treating of the surface allows to give a personal touch to the work. In order to obtain the different aspects of roughness, scratch, or carbonization, a precise knowledge of the techniques and meticulous work are necessary. In order to obtain some textures, I even use a blow torch, a kind of chain saw or acid.
The work done on the material gives birth to a contrast between light and shadow. The notches of the wood create the downstrokes and the upstrokes; the polishings permit the brightness or the dark effect. To this, we must add the nature of the wood which according to it's colors or it's irregularities will contribute to different results. I principally use local species such as walnut, maple, ash etc. By making use of the specific characteristics of each species and by combining sometimes different materials such as metal, slate or wax linen with the wood, I endow the piece with its special richness.
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Fleur & Charles Bressler Collection
French National Museum, France
Shirley & Tim Kochman Collection
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2007 Solo Exhibition, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Solo Exhibition,Galerie Courant d’Art, Revel, France
Coming of Age: Emerging and Established Wood Artists, Woodturning Center,
Philadelphia, PA
Man Made: In the Natural World, Wexler Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Shy Boy, She Devil, and ISIS, The Art of Conceptual Craft Selections From
The Wornick Collection, Boston, MA
2006 Turned & Sculptured Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Maison & Objet, Paris, France
Crossroads of Arts, Lalouvesc, France
Connection, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN
2005 Collectors of Wood Art Forum, Philadelphia, PA
2004-06 Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2004 Maison & Objects, Paris, France
International Meeting, Emma Lake Collaboration, Saskatoon, Canada
Turned Wood, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 allTURNative : Form & Spirit, WoodTurning Center Philadelphia, PA
2002-03 Du Coeur a l' ecorce, Itinerant Exhibition, France & Europe
2002 Le Bois Tourne et Detourne, Ateliers D' Art de France, Paris, France
5eme Biennale des Metiers d' Arts, Lyon, France
2000-01 Artisa, Grenoble, France
2000 Nimagine, Nimes, France
Les Artisanales, Chartres, France
ARTIST'S STATEMENT
My work consists of an aesthetic search for the shape and the material. The outline of the pieces is thought over according to simple and pure lines that endow the object with some serenity. The treating of the surface allows to give a personal touch to the work. In order to obtain the different aspects of roughness, scratch, or carbonization, a precise knowledge of the techniques and meticulous work are necessary. In order to obtain some textures, I even use a blow torch, a kind of chain saw or acid.
The work done on the material gives birth to a contrast between light and shadow. The notches of the wood create the downstrokes and the upstrokes; the polishings permit the brightness or the dark effect. To this, we must add the nature of the wood which according to it's colors or it's irregularities will contribute to different results. I principally use local species such as walnut, maple, ash etc. By making use of the specific characteristics of each species and by combining sometimes different materials such as metal, slate or wax linen with the wood, I endow the piece with its special richness.