Benoît HUOT
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In his sculptural work, Benoît Huot (b. 1966 in France) invite us to unreal encounters with hybrid and colorful creatures. From recycled elements (jewels, textiles, stuffed animals, pieces of furniture), Huot creates baroque trophies and implements an original and flamboyant animism with vibrant color palette and sophisticated patterns. His haunted creatures come out of an enchanted world with its own magical language, its mysteries and myths.
Benoît Huot lives and works in France. Having graduated from the Beaux-Arts de Besançon (Besançon School of Fine Art) in 1989, he abandoned painting in the early 2000s to dedicate himself to a practice that oscillates between sculpture and installation. Fascinated by religious and primitive art, the artist, in an atypical approach, dresses stuffed animals in velvet, bandages and jewels, creating a world both strange and mesmerizing. These metamorphosed animals, like fetishes or creatures with shamanic properties, evoke the rituals of Asia and South America. The stuffed animals are no longer hunting trophies, but real chimera, fabulous, imaginary monsters. Thus dressed, in the style of reliquaries, wild animals become sacred creatures, characters from fables or fairy tales. Strong visions, some of his works can arouse a strange feeling, between anxiety and enchantment. In 2012 La Maison Rouge, hosted Benoit Huot's first solo exhibition entitled “Au-dessous du seuil” (Below the Threshold), which constituted the recognition of his work on the contemporary art scene. There followed several solo shows, including “Bêtes et dieux, cortèges sacrés” (Beasts and Gods, Sacred Processions) at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Belfort (2013). Between 2015 and today, Huot participated in various group exhibitions in European cultural and artistic institutions.
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Born in 1966 in Montbéliard (France – Doubs). Lives and works in France.
SOLO SHOWS
2012
Au-dessous du seuil, Maison rouge, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, Paris
2013
Transhumances, Galerie Eva Hober, Paris
Bêtes et Dieux, cortèges sacrés, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Belfort
2015
Culte, Galerie Eva Hober, Paris
2018
Zone H, Villa Tamaris Centre d’Art, La Seyne sur Mer
2019
Immortels, Musée Baron Martin, Gray (70)
La Nuit du Paon, Solo show, Galerie C, Neuchâtel (Suisse)
Art Paris Art Fair – Grand Palais, Paris
Autel mexicain et la légende des 13 crânes, Musée de Champlitte (70)
Mythologies, Triennale de la sculpture, Centre d’Art, Mont de Marsan
2020
Frère animal, Centre Culturel Bellegarde, Toulouse
2021
Galerie C (Neuchâtel/Paris), Paris
GROUP SHOWS
2012
Winter show group, Galerie Eva Hober, Paris
2013
Paroles de Bêtes, Centre Culturel, Oyonnax
2015
Anima@/Animal, Abbaye Royale de Saint Riquier, Baie de Somme
Centre Culturel de Rencontre
Bêtes d’Expo !, Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Besançon
Hey ! Acte III, Halle Saint Pierre, Paris
2016
Champlitte-Jicaltepec/San Rafael, L’écart absolu, Musée de Champlitte (70)
L’artiste est-il un chamane ?, L’Aspirateur – Centre d’Art, Narbonne
2016 – 2017
Dépenses Labanque, Centre d’Art, Béthune
2017
En toute modestie, Archipel Di Rosa MIAM, Sète
Chassé-Croisé, Musée de Champlitte
Musée de la Chasse, Paris
Pièces d’Eté, Malbuisson (25)
Hey ! L’Outsider Pop français, Centre d’Art, Périgueux
2018
De fils et de fibres, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Meymac (19)
2019
La Nef des Fous, Galerie C, Neuchâtel (Suisse)
2020
KULT, Galerie DYS, Bruxelles (Belgique)
Metamorphosis, with Rithika Merchant, Galerie DYS, Bruxelles
2024
Le peuple qui vient, Fondation du doute, Blois (France)