( 1958 – )
Patrick Rimoux’s light is to illumination what dance is to walking and poetry is to speaking. The aim is not so much to light up darkness as to tell a story, to propose a different view of a place, to reveal the theatrical potential of each space, a theatre that is made of both shadows and lights, since reality is never either black or white. A theatre, more often than not, in colour as each colour corresponds to a letter in the alphabet with which Patrick Rimoux composes his own stories. It is because above all light expresses meaning in his works that Patrick Rimoux has been asked to create installations which narrate History: the illumination of Rocamadour, a place steeped in blood and the memory of blood; the monument to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Human Rights Charter in South Africa, located on the waste ground where the end of Apartheid was signed, a no man’s land where men became men again. Québec is a young city founded just four hundred years ago; Patrick Rimoux wrote the freedom of that city – from its foundation to its cultural struggles – on the walls of the City Hall and the Centre for Francophonie in the Americas.
Words, sentences, lines literally unwind on the façades of the Centre for Francophonie: a story written in illuminated letters. If one had to choose a literary genre to qualify this lit-up writing, it would be the epic. Patrick Rimoux particularly likes places where men confronted History. Where men changed History. When one thinks about it, it is a battle which is as ambitious and difficult as to want to change night into day. Which is precisely what Patrick Rimoux is doing in a creation such as the Brabant Bridge in Saint Josse in Belgium: the passage is artificially illuminated in the daytime, in colours which are as festive as those of a nocturnal celebration… Light is no longer a device which helps us to live in the dark; it gives a different vision of the day by adorning it with the colours of the night.
This paradox is the sign of art in Patrick Rimoux’s work, which reaches a climax with the Freedom Towers in Soweto. The creative process is totally reversed: the monument is erected from the project of illumination; the concept of the artist’s intervention precedes the very idea of the place. When one looks closely, the Freedom Towers, nine embedded eighteen-meter-high concrete towers, illuminated with nine different colours, are actually monoliths emptied of all life apart from that of light. They are no longer lit-up towers but a light installation in the shape of towers. In such circumstances, the usefulness of lighting is no longer at stake; only the art of light is at stake. It is in that sense that Patrick Rimoux should be described as a sculptor. A light sculptor who transforms the rays of a lamp into the stuff of dreams, as others make gold with clay. The “Light Path” of the rue du Chevalier de la Barre, in Paris, on the Butte Montmartre, moves the sky down to the ground by creating a constellation of stars on these beautiful and famous stairs, which, basically, we have always unknowingly looked at with the same emotion as we would look at a star-studded sky… Patrick Rimoux helps us perceive the poetry that inhabits streets and cities.
He is primarily an artist but he is also an engineer: the technical specificity of his artistic approach compels him to create his own tools. Imagination has surpassed all other contingencies in town-planning or architecture, but the lamp still has to be found from which the dreamed image will emerge. And when it does not exist, it has to be invented. Patrick Rimoux is certainly the only creator from the Beaux-Arts who has a degree in electronic engineering. Reading the specification sheet of the “Brussels Mast” helps one size up the research that precedes the design of the lamp, which is not only a shape but also a technological invention. There are as many unique items, intelligent lamps in terms of both content and form, sometimes created for specific requirements at collectors requests of which, one day, several copies will undoubtedly be made and then find their way into art books. It is no coincidence that I met Patrick in India, a colourful land if ever there was one, the country of light: the most important celebration in the Indian calendar, diwali, is literally the “celebration of lights”.
It is under that blazing sun, during those endless festive nights, amongst men and women adorned with the most vivid colours of the chromatic spectrum, that I saw Patrick in full operation: at the time, he was working on sculptures made from very colourful Bollywood films. We put on an exhibition together, the starting point of a friendship born of our mutual fascination for light. Just like him, I believe that nights can be more beautiful than days, that beings and things, spaces and landscapes, appear in a different type of truth after midnight. One only needs to look. Patrick is this mediator who helps us to see in the dark. To see ourselves.
Jérôme Neutres, French cultural Attaché in New York
WORKS
Archet
2018
Film 35 mm Katia et le crocodile de Vera Plívová-Šimková . 1966 . CZ . EVA .
Glass
1020 x 970 cm
Duetto
2018
Film 35 mm L’Étrange Noël de monsieur Jack de Henry Selick, Tim Burton ( 1993 )
Glass
950 x 950 cm
Onde de couleurs
2018
Film 35 mm Chantons sous la pluie de Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly ( 1952 )
Glass
1000 x 1000 cm
Portraits
2018
Film 35 mm Dix-sept ans de Didier Nion ( 2003 )
Glass
1080 x 990 cm
PROJECTIONS
Projections at north station, Paris
2015
Projections at north station, Paris
2015
Projection at Council of Ile de France, Paris
2016
Projection at Council of Ile de France, Paris
2016
CREATIONS, EXHIBITIONS AND PRIZES
2019
Le Pavillon Noir, installation, Design Miami / Art Basel 2019, Miami, FL, United States.
Hommage à Léonor Fini, installation, Art Paris 2019, Paris, France.
Grid of the Church of Saint Esprit, projection, Paris, France.
2018
Chenn’eye, permanent monumental installation, Palladium Mall, Chennai, India.
Exhibition at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Meymac, France.
Lighting of the oratory of the Martyrs, missions étrangères de Paris, France.
Lighting of the catholic institute, Paris, France.
2017
Palimpseste II, exhibition at the Galerie Minsky, Paris, France.
Nuit Blanche de Paris, lighting for the boulevard des Invalides, Paris, France.
Installation, library Sou Fujimoto, Art Paris Art Fair, Paris, France.
Verre de lumière, light installation at Saint-Ignace church, Paris, France.
2016
Les Passagers du Grand Paris Express, light model of the Pont de Sèvres, Boulogne Billancourt, France.
Lightning scenography with Jean Paul Carayon landscape at the Jardin Marin, Saint Tropez, France.
Owan, lightning, edition house from Kengo Kuma, Art Basel/Galerie Philippe Gravier, Switzerland.
Palimpseste I, exhibition and projection, Galerie Minsky, Paris, France.
2015
Invitation au voyage, monumental projection, Gare du Nord, Paris, France.
Constellation, permanent installation of 1,000 stars in the suburb mezzanine at the Gare du Nord, Paris, France.
Lightning of the Angel Bear, Richard Texier’s sculpture at the Gare du Nord, Paris, France.
Installation and projection, HL Foundation, Gurgaon, India.
2014
Formes et lumière, exhibition, Alliance Française, New Delhi, India.
Exhibition, India Art Fair, New Delhi, India.
Silver Trees, projection in public spaces, Bombay, India.
Many Small Cubes, Lightning of Sou Fujimoto’s architecture for Fiac, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France.
Concours Lumières 2014 Price, Place Charles III, Nancy, France.
2013
Bonjour India, projection in public space, Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, India.
City Palace, monumental projection, Jaipur, India.
Exhibition, India Art Fair, New Delhi, India.
Light scenography with Belgian composer Dan Lacksman for the Christmas event on the Grand Place of Brussels, Belgium.
2012
Arche-Chambon, architectural projection and lightning scenography, Allfin Group, Brussels, Belgium.
Monumental floating sculpture, light and sound with sound designer Louis Dandrel, La Borie Foundation, Solignac, France.
Exhibition, Galerie Akar Prakar, Madras, Inda.
Exhibition, India Art Fair, New Delhi, India.
Lightning, gare du Nord, Brussels, Belgium.
Soleil & Nuages, creation of unique piece of lightning for the private collection of Phillippe Austruy.
2011
Winning team (architect Nicolas Michelin & Associates, P. Rimoux, Bouygues …) for the assistance of the Ministry of Defence to Balard, Paris, France.
Rangoli of Light, monumental projection, as part of exchanges of artists Franco Indian government, New Delhi, India.
Toile de Lumière, monumental projection, order of the DRAC Bourgogne, Abbaye de la Charité sur Loire, France.
The 100 words of Cardinal de Bernis, installation, Word Festival, Charité sur Loire, France.
Installation, embassy of France, New Delhi, India.
Exhibition, Galerie Matthieu Foss, Bombay, India.
2010
Exhibition, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris, France.
Highlightning of Museum of Art and History, Geneva, Switzerland.
Seneca’s Phaedra, directed by Astrid Bas, scenography light, Le Cent Quatre, Paris, France.
Highlightning and projection, consulate of France, Québec City, Canada.
The ring of Europe, by the architect Alain Sarfati, highlighting and projection, Brussels, Belgium.
2009
Monumental Projection on the facade of French Cultural Embassy, Payne Whitney Mansion, New York, United States.
Retrospective on the realized light projects, Congrès train station, Brussels, Belgium.
Brussels – New York, exhibition of sculptures made of 35mm and of photography, Galerie Le Café Français, Brussels, Belgium.
The song of songs, scenography and light, PS1 MOMA, New York, United States.
Highlighting and projection, project of the architect Nicolas Michelin, Galerie d’ARTEM, Nancy, France.
Highlighting and projection, Wharf of Saint Paul, La Réunion.
2008
Light creation , city hall of Quebec City, Canada.
Phèdre en Inde, scenography by Astrid Bas, Lights by Georges Lavaudant, monumental light creation, Bombay et New Delhi, India.
Garden of sound and light, creation with Louis Dandrel (sound sculptor), La Borie, Cultural Meeting Centre , Limoges, France.
L’empreinte du cachalot, scenography and light for Thierry Secrétan’s exhibition, Le set de la butte, Paris, France.
2007
Liège adorned with colours: Blue, illumination of 7 places of the city of Liège, Belgium.
Va Vis, choreography by Norma Claire, light creation, Théâtre d’Ivry, Paris, France.
Dance the city, monumental projection, Cayenne, French Guyana.
Piccolo Teatro, itinerant sculpture for THORN lightning company, France.
Permanent illumination of the Brabant bridge, Saint Josse, Belgium.
Permanent illumination of the passage de l’Amphithéâtre in the surroundings of the Centre Pompidou Metz, France.
2006
Winner of the competition for the illumination of the Grand-Place in Brussels, Belgium.
Liège adorned with colours: Red, illumination of 8 courtyards and secret places of the city of Liège, Belgium.
Exhibition, Louis Vuitton gallery, Paris, France.
Exhibition at the French Alliance, New Delhi, India.
Highlighting of the Nivose’s Frigate, Mahé, Seychelles.
Lighting scheme of the seaside for the city of St Paul, La Réunion.
2005
Artist’s residence at the invitation of the French Embassy, Madras, India.
Liège adorned with colours: White, illumination of 6 squares of the city of Liège, Belgium.
Dance the city around Brazil, temporary illumination, Cayenne, French Guyana.
Exhibition, Galerie Baudoin Lebon, Paris, France.
Freedom Towers, monumental projection, Soweto, South Africa.
Illumination of the Sauroy mansion in the Marais district, Paris, France.
Stop all the clocks, sculpture for Heysel’s stadium, Brussels, Belgium.
2004
Electropolis, commission by EDF Foundation for 12 photographs, Electropolis Museum, Mulhouse, France.
Imaginary Gardens, by Kathryn Gustafson, highlighting, Terrasson Lavilledieu, France.
Eclectics, light scenography of the city of Rocamadour, France.
Lighting development of Cépérou Fort, Cayenne, Guyana.
2003
Winter Pleasures, temporary illumination of the Grand-Place in Brussels, Belgium.
Les imaginaires, light performance in Cassis’ harbour, France.
Light scenography of the front square of « Sainte Gudule » cathedral, Brussels, Belgium.
Freedom Square, conception of a light sculpture, Soweto, South Africa.
Conception and creation of the illumination of the Agricultural Housing Development, Schaerbeek, Belgium.
Exhibition, on a film by Jean-Jacques Beineix, Expressions Gallery, Bar-Le-Duc, France.
2002
Winter Pleasures – The Ardennes Forest, temporary illumination of the Grand-Place in Brussels, Belgium.
Light sculpture for the two-yearly festival of contemporary art in Nîmes, France.
Lighting development of Mandela Bridge, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Scenography of the AGF headquarters, Paris, France.
Le Plateau, light creation for the inauguration of the centre for contemporary art, FRAC of Paris region, Paris, France.
2001
Winter Pleasures – Christmas Constellation, temporary illumination of the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium.
Love is sweet, choregraphy by Norma Claire, light creation with Jean-Luc Estève, Paris, France.
Scenography of the Duggan Crownin exhibition for the South African French Institute, South Africa.
2000
Lighting development of the Emperor boulevard, Dinant square, Dinant street, and Villers street, Brussels, Belgium.
Lighting disposition study for the West boulevards of the city of Nevers, France.
Creation of the lighting scenography of the cliff and fortress in Mornas, France.
1999
Design of street lighting for the centennial Boulevard, Centenary Boulevard, Brussels, Belgium.
Illumination of a viaduct in Nevers, France.
Conception and creation of the illumination of the main courtyard of the Parc des Expositions, Brussels, Belgium.
Design of the lighting for the Beaurivage Boulevard in La Ciotat, France.
Light scenography of the Human Rights International Federation float, Paris Technoparade, France.
1998
Light development of the Gray bridge, Ixelles, Belgium.
Creation of the light disposition, Bruparck, Belgique.
Studies for the development of the Centennial Boulevard, the International Buildings and the Atomium, Brussels, Belgium.
Lighting disposition studies for the canal bridge and the nine canal locks for the Voies Navigables de France, Béziers, France.
Exhibition of light works, National Architecture School, Paris, France.
1997
Polylogue 50, exhibition, Odile Baudel’s Site, Paris, France.
Creation of the lighting disposition, Maurice Utrillo street, Paris, France.
Commission by the DRAC Paris Region and the city of Coulommiers for a lighting project on the Grand Morin, Coulommiers, France.
Creation of a light beacon, Vianne, France.
Project for the illumination and development of the Lot river banks, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France.
1996
Exhibition, Confluences, Paris, France.
Exhibition, Salon de Montrouge, France.
Expositions the Commune Theatre of Aubervilliers, France.
Creation of a sculpture for the centennial of cinema, Brussels, Belgium.
1995
Exhibition, Arco Gallery, Nevers, France.
Illumination of the TY2 locomotive project, France.
Exhibition, Confluence, Paris, France.
Creation of a light sculpture, Chevalier-de-la-Barre street, Paris, France.
Creation of a light paving at Egmont park, Brussels, Belgium.
1994
Lighting disposition study of the Garenne park, Nérac, France.
Creation of a triptych for the A. Rochefeld collection.
Commission by the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignation (Bank of France subsidiary) for the study of the development of 30kms of the Baïse river banks, France.
1993
Entre Ciel et Vert, installation of a light design for the student social centre, Marne La Vallée, France.
Exhibition, Confluences, Paris, France.
Exhibition, Electra Site, Paris, France.
1992
Light Path, conception with Henri Alekan, commissioned by the Fondation de France, Aignay-le-Duc, France.
Commission for a light signal by the Cultural Directorate of the Paris local council, Sacré-Cœur, rues de Montmartre, Paris, France.
1991
Signal, conception of a light sculpture for the city of Paris real estate company, Paris, France.
Winner of the contest for a fountain and a light design for the town of Savigny-sur-Orge, France.
1990
Creation of an event sculpture for the Krieg company, France.
Events Message Machine, exhibition, Tokyo, Japan.
Creation of a monument tribute to Henri Langlois, Montparnasse cemetery, Paris, France.
1989
Exhibition,Beaux-Arts Gallery, Viseux Studio, Paris, France.
Artistic direction of the official reception of the École Centrale Equinoxe, Paris, France.
Exhibition at the May Show, Paris, France.
Creation of a monumental sculpture for the GAN insurance company, Paris, France.
Winner of the Patek Philippe prize.
Exhibition, Alias Gallery, Paris, France.
1988
Winner of the contest for a sculpture representing France at the Lausanne International Olympic Committee, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Second prize at the CNAP contest for the Art et Information magazine
Exhibition at the May Show, Paris, France.
Exhibition in the Kowalski workshop, Beaux-Arts de Paris, France.
1986
National School of Technological Teaching, Bessières, France.
National Art School in Paris in the Claude Visseux workshop, Paris, France.
CAPES (higher teaching degree) in new technologies.
Degree in Applied Arts.
Degree in Sciences and Techniques.