Maxime Gasnier: Editor-in-Chief & Art Director of The Steidz

1. To begin with, could you introduce The Steidz and tell us about the ambition behind its creation?

Maxime Gasnier: Ten years ago, emerging creatives were still largely underrepresented in magazines, despite the growing number of initiatives, often curatorially driven, dedicated to showcasing artists fresh out of school or at the beginning of their careers.

Together with Sébastien Maschino, I founded The Steidz out of a conviction that this "new scene" deserved a platform capable of bringing it into focus.

The name itself comes from the English phonetic pronunciation of the word "stage", reflecting our desire to create a podium, a space where talents could be highlighted for the singularity of their practices.

© The Steidz

© The Steidz

Today, while The Steidz remains first and foremost a magazine, it has also become known for supporting artists over the long term. Some of the creatives we first featured in 2015 are now represented by major galleries.

As publishers, we produce their first monographs, exhibit and collect their work, and continue writing about practices that we have seen evolve over the years.

Through all of this, our aim remains the same: to foster visibility through a curated and demanding editorial perspective.

2. The Steidz explores the intersections between art, design, fashion and photography. Why do you think these disciplines are becoming increasingly interconnected today?

Maxime Gasnier: To me, the fluidity between disciplines lies at the very heart of contemporary creation.

One only has to think of the early assemblage artists who began incorporating ready made objects into their works.

Was that not already an attempt to blur boundaries and merge genres?

I believe that the desire to create images that feel new, striking and unconstrained by convention naturally emerges through the convergence of different forms of expression.

This intertwining of practices gives rise to visual movements that influence everything from fashion drawing inspiration from art, to design embracing sculptural qualities, or photography expanding beyond its two dimensional nature into something more akin to a plastic art form.

© The Steidz

 © The Steidz

3. You have been observing new generations of creatives for many years. How would you describe today's creative landscape?

Maxime Gasnier: Whether we are speaking about artists or designers, today's creative scene seems to be defined by a fascinating paradox.

On one hand, there is a desire to reclaim authenticity and simplicity in response to the challenges of globalization.

Some creators embrace straightforward figurative painting, handcrafted materials and artisanal techniques as a way of expressing a sensibility that stands in contrast to the anxieties of our time.

On the other hand, there is an equally strong desire to draw from the resources of our era, whether technological, industrial or innovative, to create images and objects that belong to more speculative or dystopian visions of the future.

4. In your view, what distinguishes a trend from a work or project that is built to endure?

Maxime Gasnier: Although the term "trend" is often criticized for its association with marketing or communication, it fundamentally refers to something ephemeral.

I tend to think of it as a point of convergence between different creative practices that share common aesthetics, references or sensibilities.

This can take many forms: the rise of collaborations between artists and fashion houses, the widespread use of a particular colour across disciplines, or a renewed fascination with a specific material.

A work can absolutely belong to a trend because it was conceived within a certain context and reflects something meaningful about its time.

That said, what endures is often what transcends that context and continues to resonate long after the trend itself has faded.

© Clément Philippe

© Clément Philippe

5. Which artists from art history have had the greatest influence on your eye and your sensibility? Why?

Maxime Gasnier: One of the first exhibitions that truly left a lasting impression on me was Richard Avedon at the Jeu de Paume in 2008.

I was sixteen years old at the time. It was the first moment I understood that photography could become something entirely unique when an artist develops a distinctive visual language.

The monumental scale of the prints, the deliberate black borders framing the portraits, the directness of the sitters' gaze, all of these elements formed a signature unlike anything I had encountered before.

Beyond photography, I have always been fascinated by the generation of artists who engaged with consumer culture from the 1960s onward.

Andy Warhol, of course, but also Allen Jones, Richard Hamilton, Barbara Kruger and Mel Ramos.

Looking back, their influence has undoubtedly shaped the editorial identity of The Steidz, which is often described as having a pop sensibility rooted in a strong material and visual culture.

6. How do you spot an emerging talent before everyone else does?

Maxime Gasnier: You have to look beyond the traditional exhibition circuits of museums, art centres and galleries, even though they remain essential platforms for visibility.

Art fairs across France and Europe, along with the satellite exhibitions that gravitate around them, are invaluable environments for discovering artists who may never have been shown elsewhere.

Keeping an eye on artist run spaces and independent curatorial initiatives outside conventional networks is equally important.

Every year, The Steidz publishes an international selection of these spaces in its annual print edition.

We spend a great deal of time mapping hybrid, sometimes unexpected places where emerging creativity can be encountered in its most vibrant forms.

© Perrotin

7. Finally, if you had to name one emerging artist exciting you right now, who would it be and why?

Maxime Gasnier: A few months ago, I discovered the work of Sander Coers, a young Dutch artist who uses photography to create works printed on wooden panels and fragments of ceramic.

By appropriating archival imagery and, at times, artificial intelligence, he succeeds in bringing together different temporalities of image making, connecting them through hybrid works that take the form of fragmented compositions punctuated by bold fields of colour.

What interests me most is the way he navigates between memory, technology and materiality, creating pieces that feel both contemporary and timeless.

We will be dedicating a major interview to him in the next annual issue of The Steidz, which will be published this October.

Their favorite artworks