Eric Pottier

France Born in: 1966

Born in Montfermeil, France in 1966, Eric Pottier grew fascinated early on by conceptual artists such as Lawrence Weiner, Yves Klein, Marcel Duchamp and Nicolas Sanhes. "Self-taught by ignorance", as he defines himself, his sculptures are at the same time controversial, evocative, expressive and poetic.

Appropriating the codes of popular culture, Pottier studied the esthetics of objects and joined the Pop Art movement. His experienced eye enabled him to make his first works, which were directly influenced by industrial materials. It is a playing field that he has known well since his early years as an artist : "Using cement as an artistic material came naturally to me, since it's omnipresent in everyday life. It is by controlling it and mastering it that I have been able to make it express the opposite of what it represents, as in my studies called "Cement Interpretations" ("Cimentiques Interprétations" in French) ...an opposition of two thoughts, of two contrary expressions."

Pottier's works as well as their elements can be understood as a reflection upon consumerism, mirroring our contradictions and questioning the bases of our "pseudo-values". His thinking is oriented towards globalization, excess consumption, power and domination, which are the premises of his practice.

The sculptor presented his famous series "The Story of Anna" ("Chroniques d'Anna" in French), a painted sculpture of avant-garde inspiration. The symbol of the apple becomes a weapon for denunciation. Marked by a resolutely contemporary style, Pottier makes no concessions to trash or extravagance. Symbols of our societies are used to set the scene, subject to his funny interpretation. The artist puts objects of his time to new uses as symbols of a society misguided by the consumer ratio.

Casting himself in the role of a spectator of our world, Eric Pottier sweeps us away into his own world of Utopian thought.