Biography
Quentin Garel is an internationally acclaimed French sculptor and draughtsman, best known for his striking bronze animal sculptures that evoke the texture and presence of wood. Each work begins as an intricate charcoal drawing, which he then translates into a carved wooden form before casting it in bronze. The result is a luminous, tactile surface that balances realism with transformation. His animal figures often take on the form of masks, distilling the essence of the creature rather than depicting it in full, and inviting a more symbolic, almost totemic reading.
Following the widely acclaimed exhibition The Bone Magician at the National Museum of Natural History in 2016, and its presentation at the Palazzo Tiepolo Passi during the Venice Biennale in 2017, Garel was honoured with major retrospectives at the Matmut Contemporary Art Center in 2019 and the Domaine de Chamarande in 2020.
Garel graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 1998 and was awarded a scholarship to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, followed by a two-year residency at the Casa de Velázquez. He has completed numerous public commissions, including a series of bronze animal busts for the public gardens in Lille and another installed in the garden of the Tour Carpe Diem in Paris. His work is held in major collections such as the Regional Centre of Knowledge in Rouen and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Verona, and has also been presented in the Galleries of Comparative Anatomy and Palaeontology. Among his distinctions are the Drawing Prize from the Academy of Fine Arts, Paris (2003) and the Sculpture Award from Salon de Mai, Paris (2004), among others.
Works
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Mask of the Camel, 2013 -
Phoenicopterus II, 2024 -
Masque de Chimpanzé II, 2023 -
Masque de Gorille IX, 2023 -
Phoenicopterus II, 2023 -
Masque D’Homo Sapiens, 2023 -
Phacochère, 2023 -
Homo Guanicoe, 2023 -
Homo Struthionem, 2023 -
Chenets Autruche, 2023 -
Palimpseste, 2023 -
Masque de Chimpanzé II, 2023 -
Masque de Gorille IX, 2023 -
Phoenicopterus II, 2023 -
Lion, 2021 -
Gorille VIII, 2021 -
Gorille VIII, 2021 -
Éléphant III, 2021 -
Ursus, 2020 -
TENTACULE II, 2020 -
TENTACULE III, 2020 -
Mask of the Orangutan, 2019 -
Crocodilus, 2019 -
Éléphanteau II, 2017 -
Mask of the Baby Orangutan (Bronze), 2017 -
Palimpsest I, 2017 -
Palimpsest II, 2017 -
Ostrich IV, 2017 -
Ostrich III, 2015 -
Skull of the Saber-tooth Tiger, 2013 -
Phoenicopterus I, 2013 -
Skull of the Lion, 2012 -
ALBATROS, 2012 -
RHINOCEROS, 2012 -
MORSE II (WALRUS), 2012 -
MORSE I (WALRUS), 2010 -
Mask of the Ostrich, 2017 -
Mask of the Baby Orangutan (Wood), 2017 -
Mask of the Baboon, 2017 -
Mask of the Pig, 2017 -
Mask of the Macaque II, 2017 -
Mask of the Rabbit, 2017 -
Gorilla V, 2016 -
Mask of the Chimpanzee, 2015 -
Giraffe II, 2014
Exhibitions
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Liminal
Hubert Le Gall, Khairulddin Wahab, Lionel Sabatté, Quentin Garel, Steven Low, Sukhburen Narankhuu and Wayan Upadana 24 Feb - 6 Apr 2024 SingaporeRead more -
In The Flesh
Quentin Garel 31 Oct - 12 Nov 2023 LondonRead more -
ANOMAL
Quentin Garel Solo Exhibition 19 Jun - 11 Jul 2021 SingaporeRead more
Press
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Arts Picks: Kids’ theatre shows in Malay and Mandarin, Cuturi’s sculpture show and The Face Of Jizo
Ong Sor Fern, The Straits Times, February 22, 2024 -
Anomal, une exposition de Quentin Garel, exclusif à Singapour
Séverine Gil, Le Petit Journal, June 29, 2021 -
Events in Singapore: What to do this 17 to 23 June 2021
Robb Report Singapore, June 17, 2021
Publications
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Quentin Garel: Monographie
Quentin Garel Quentin Garel, Alin Avila, Christine Argot, Luc Vivès, 2019Hardcover, 240 pagesRead more
Publisher: Albin Michel
Dimensions: 85 x 90 cm -
Trophée
Quentin Garel A. Avila, Quentin Garel, 2010Paperback, 192 pagesRead more
Publisher: Area
ISBN: 284446162X
Dimensions: 27.9 x 1.8 x 21 cm
News
