Patrick Neu's artistic approach tends towards a form of meditative slowness that allows him to inscribe his work in time and respect the cycle of seasons. Diverting materials and processes from their traditional uses, his works call upon gestures of great precision, whether making a tunic from thousands of bee wings, reproducing armour in crystal, drawing in soot on glass or weaving a veil of natural hair. There is often an inherent contradiction between the fragility of the materials he employs and the symbolic strength of the represented objects. Through these meticulous gestures involved, which require complete concentration and great dexterity, he questions the impermanence and fragility of life.
Inspired by references to art history, Neu has been using black smoke since 1996 to reproduce works by Renaissance painters such as Hieronymus Bosch, Holbein or Rubens. He applies soot from candles to the inside of antique glass cabinets or crystal wineglasses to depict emblematic scenes from the history of painting. Almost imperceptible at first glance, they read in transparency like enigmas waiting to be deciphered. Images that exist in our collective memory are seen in a new light, with these delicate reminiscences from the past linking the art of the Old Masters to contemporary creation.
Neu lives and works in Meisenthal, France. Trained at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs in Strasbourg, he was an artist in residence at the Villa Médicis, Rome in 1995 and at the Villa Kujoyama, Kyoto in 1999. Since 2003 he has been Creative Director of the Saint-Louis crystal factory, which is the oldest crystal manufactory in Europe. His work has been the subject of important solo exhibitions at MAMCO, Geneva (2010); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015); and Abbaye de Maubuisson, Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, France (2018), as well as being included in group exhibitions at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (1997); Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux (2001); Centre Pompidou Metz (2010); and Musée d'Arts de Nantes (2019).
2019
Manège, Musée du Cristal Saint-Louis, Saint-Louis-Iès-Bitche, France
2018
Iris, Jardin des Délices, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Patrick Neu, Abbaye de Maubisson, Saint-Ouen L'Aumône, France
2015
Patrick Neu, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2012
Patrick Neu, La Verrière Hermès, Brussels, Belgium
2011
Patrick Neu, Galerie Eva Meyer, Paris, France
2010
Dans le suie des images et les iris de la pensée, Mamco, Geneva, Switzerland
2009
Patrick Neu, Kumukumu Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2008
L'instant n'en finit pas, Frac Lorraine, Metz, France
Iris, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France
Patrick Neu, Galerie de Zaal, Delft, Netherlands
2007
Patrick Neu, CEAAC Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
2002
Patrick Neu, Le Ring, Nantes, France
2001
Patrick Neu, Galerie Arlogos, Paris, France
2000
Patrick Neu, La Chaufferie, l'Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Strasbourg, France
1999
Patrick Neu, Contemporary Art Center, Wilfredo Lam, La Habana, Cuba
1998
Patrick Neu, Arlogos gallery, Paris, France
1997
Patrick Neu, Showroom Manzoni, Genève, Switzerland
1991
Patrick Neu, Château de Léonardsau, Obernai, France
1988
Infrangible, Galerie Finnegan's, Strasbourg, France
2023
Voyage dans le cristal, Musée de Cluny, Paris, France
2022
Le Promontoire du songe, FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Végétal: l'école de la beauté, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris, France
Art Cruel, Musée Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland
L'arc et le sabre, imaginaire guerrier du Japon, Musée Guimet, Paris, France
2019
En Chemin, Musée d'Arts de Nantes, Nantes, France
2017
Déjeuner sur l'herbe, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Pantin, France Jardins, Grand Palais, Paris, France
2015
Space Age, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2013
Galerie Eva Meyer, Paris, France
2010
Chefs-d'oeuvre ?, Centre Pompidou-Metz, Metz, France
La pluie, Musée de l'image, Epinal, France
2009
Le Printemps de Septembre de Toulouse, Espace Saint-Cyprien, Toulouse, France
Disappearance, Transplant, Dale i Sunnfjord, Norway
Beaubourg Constellation, Centre Mondial de la Paix, Verdun, France
Animalia, Musée Barrois, Bar-le-Duc, France
Ni tout à fait la même, ni tout à fait une autre, Musée de l'image, Epinal, France
LA09, Ateliers des Arques, France
Le Printemps de Septembre de Toulouse, Centre de Lait, Castre, France
2008
Plus Léger que l'Air, Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Le Mans, France
L'Homme Merveilleux , Château de Malbrouck, Manderen, France
L'Instant n'en Finit Pas , FRAC Lorraine, Metz, France
2007
Sarkis Inclinaison, Musée Bourdelle, Paris, France
Sarkis, Rencontre avec Uccello, Grünewald, Munch et Beuys, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Ce n'est pas la Girouette qui Tourne, c'est le Vent, Garenne-Lemot, France
Galerie Iffrig, Strasbourg, France
Merveilleux d'après Nature, Château de Malbrouck, Manderen, France
2005
La Galerie fête ses 15 ans, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
2004
La Fabrique du Sensible, Musée Départemental d'Art Contemporain de Rochechouart, France
De la Lorraine, Musée de la Cour d'Or, Metz, France
2003
Galerie de Zaal, Delft, Netherlands
Fragile, Museum of Fine-Arts, Reims, France
Collections sans Frontières, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea de Turin, Italy
2002
Mesure Démesure, Galerie Poirel, France
2001
+Vrai que Nature, Museum of Contemporary Art, Bordeaux, France
2000
Collection été, FRAC Lorraine, Epinal, France Traces de Verre, Halle Verrière, Meisenthal, France
1999
Perte de Repères, FRAC Lorraine, Metz, France Icare, Villa du Parc, Annemasse, France
1998
Fétiches er Fétichismes, Passage du Retz, Paris, France
1997
L'Empreinte, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Histoire de Voir, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Château Bordelais, France FIAC, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
1996
Trans-appearance, Château-Musée du Cayla, Andillac, France Siafo, Exhibition Center, Seoul, South Korea
Galerie de Zaal, Delft and Amsterdam, Netherlands
Art Köln, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Köln, Germany
White card to Michel Nuridsany, Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France; Grandy Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
1995
Galerie Patricia Dorfmann, Paris, France
Galerie de Zaal, Delft, Netherlands
1993
Patrick Neu, Cédric Nové-Josserand, Musée de l'Ancienne Douane, Strasbourg, France
1992
Ateliers 92, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
Ateliers 92, Musée du Sel, Marsal, France
15 artists à Strasbourg, Galerie Budapest, Hungary
Révolution de Palais, Palace du Rhin, Strasbourg, France
1991
Kunst Europa, Villa Franck, Ludwigsbourg Art, Hamburg, Germany
1990
Forum Kunst, Rottweil, Germany
1989
Travaux en Cours/Région Est/4, Musée d'Art Moderne, Strasbourg, France Acquisitions 87-88, FRAC Alsace, Couvent des Dominicains, Guebwiller, France
1988
Nouvelles Impressions de Strasbourg, Palace du Rhin, Strasbourg, France
1986
Dimensions singulières, Château des Rohans, Saverne, France
1985
Ateliers d'Artistes, Strasbourg, France
1984
8 au Bandit, Le Bandit, Strasbourg, France Domaine de Garenne-Lemot, Clisson, France
France
Fonds National d'Art Contemporain
FRAC Alsace, Sélestat
Frac des Pays De La Loire, Carquefou
FRAC Lorraine, Metz
Musée d'Art Moderne, Strasbourg
Switzerland
MAMCO Genève, Geneva