“Digital creation, rised to that level of technical quality
and emotion and because it is now able to ‘make universally
transmissible what is inexpressible’, is really an art in
the sense of Kant, and will be the more contemporary art
thanks to creators like Hugo Arcier.”
Jean-Luc Chalumeau, art critic and art historian.

 
BIOGRAPHY

Hugo Arcier is a French digital artist (actually he is an artist in a digital world) who uses 3D computer graphics in various ways: video installations, prints and sculptures.

 

Devoted first to visual effects for feature films, he has worked on numerous projects with directors such as Roman Polanski, Alain Resnais or Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

This profession has allowed him to gain a deep understanding of digital tools – in particular 3D graphic images – which is essential for the birth of his projects.

Since 2004 he develops plastic and reflective artworks that meticulously dissect the specificities of 3D computer graphics and virtual worlds, being part of a new form of art.

His artistic works have been featured in numerous festivals (Elektra, Videoformes, Némo, etc.), in collective exhibitions in galeries and art venues (Le 104, New Museum, Palais de Tokyo, New Media Art Center of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, galerie Magda Danysz, galerie Plateforme, etc.) and contemporary art fairs (Variation, Slick).

His works has been shown in two monographic exhibitions in France:
“Nostalgie du réel” in 2013 at Le Cube, and “Fantômes numériques” in 2016 at Lux Valence.

He was named “Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres” in 2016 by the French minister of Culture Audrey Azoulay.


He is the founder and creative director of N°130 Creative Studio
He is active member of the artist-run space Plateforme Paris.
Copyright managed by ADAGP.

 
 
ARTISTIC APPROACH

The artist Hugo Arcier creates artworks using 3D computer graphics. He develops a meta-discourse on virtual images and more globally on virtual worlds, deconstructing what are they made of and what are their specificities.
For example in his installation Ghost City (2016), based on some passages of the book of Lucrecia De rerum natura, he highlights the fact that virtual worlds are formed by hollow surfaces (“bark”). It is an essential and constitutive facts of all virtual worlds.
He also works on the theme of disappearance and the replacement of our world by a virtual one. He takes the position of an observer, transcribing this replacement in an artistic and plastic form, like in his body of work “Nostalgia for Nature” (film, installation, prints) or in his film Folded Nature.
 
 
INTERVIEW

Opéra de Paris, about Clinamen
Travelogue (exhibition)
Game / Video Art. A survey (exhibition and book)
“Nostalgie du réel” (solo exhibition)
“Philosophie – La culture” (documentary) FRENCH
Paper-thin (virtual exhibition)
 
 

EXHIBITIONS

2019
« Jusqu’ici tout va bien? Archéologies d’un monde numérique » Biennale Némo (Le 104, Paris)
“ubik” at Pavillon Blanc (Colomiers, France)
2018
“Navier-Stokes ou la beauté des crêtes”, Nuit blanche 2018 (Paris, France)
2017
« Le suaire de Turing », Biennale Siana (Évry, France)
2016
Beirut Biennale for the image (Beirut, Liban)
“Travelogue”, Mantova (Italy)
“Arte es digital, digital es arte” Vostell Museum, Caceres (Spain)
“Fantômes numériques”, solo show, Lux (Valence, France)
“Paper-thin”, virtual museum
2015
“The fate of image”, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (Chongqing, China)
“Lumières – Fréquences – Essences” (Evry, France)
“Cutting Edge Animation” (São Paulo, Brazil)
“Adrenalina” (São Paulo, Bazil)
2014
“AV@AR 3.0 The Art of French New Media” (Beijing, China)
“Lighting, Frequency, Essence” (Chengdu, China)
“Display” (Wuhan, China)
“Territoires Incertains”, Plateforme (Paris, France)
“Imaginary : Aesthetics of the virtual and perception of the reality”, Group Show, PrimoPiano LivinGallery, (Lecce, Italy)
2013
Show Off Art Fair (Paris, France)
“Little Big Crunch”, group show, Plateforme gallery (Paris, France)
ON/Gallery (Beijing, China)
Lille Art Fair (Lille, France)
“Nostalgie du réel” Solo Show at Le CUBE, (Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France)
2012
“Noreover”, Plateforme (Paris, France)
2011
Louis V E.S.P. gallery (Brooklyn NY, USA)
2010
“Little Big Bang”, Plateforme (Paris, France)
Parcours d’art Carne (Paris, France)
2009
Videobox (France – Belgique)
2008
Okayama Art Center (Japan)
Celal Gallery (Paris, France)
2007
ADN Gallery (Barcelone, Spain)
“Sous influence”, Magda Danysz Gallery (Paris, France)
2006
Slick Art Fair(Paris, France)
Show Off Art Fair(Paris, France)
Cube Art Center(Issy-les-Moulineaux, France)
Video’appart (Paris, France)
2004
Artcore Gallery (Paris, France)

 

FESTIVALS / SCREENINGS

2019
Over the real (Viareggio, Italy)
Now & After (Moscow, Russia)
2018
Videobardo (Buenos Aire, Argentina)
2017
Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
2015
Polytechnic Museum (Moscow, Russia)
VIS (Vienna, Autria)
Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
2014
Multiplicidades (Rio, Brasil)
ShortVisions 1. International Short Film Festival (Ningbo, China)
B.I.M. Biennale de l’image en mouvement (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Austrian Film Museum, “Penetrating surfaces” curated by Robert Seidel. (Vienna, Austrian)
Videoformes (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
2013
Seoul International NewMedia Festival (Seoul, Korea)
Ars Electronica, (Linz, Autria)
Anima Mundi (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil)
Videoakt International Videoart Biennial (Barcelona, Spain)
Elektra (Montreal, Québec)
2012
New Museum (New York, USA)
Videoformes (video and new media in contemporary art) (Clermont-Ferrand, France)
2011
Atopic Festival (Paris, France)
Above Ground Animation (Los Angeles, USA)
Toronto Urban Film Festival (Toronton, Canada)
2010
Video Art & Experimental Film Festival (New York, USA)
2009
Yo Veo Experimental Cinema (New York, USA)
2008
Paris Tout court (Paris, France)
2006
International Short Film Festival Leuven (Leuven, Belgique)
VAIA, V Mostra Internationale d’Art Vidéo d’Alcoi (Valencia, Spain)
Bitfilms festival (Germany)
Festival du nouveau cinéma de Montréal (Québec, Canada)
Sao Paulo International Short Film Festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
InVideo (Milano, Italia)
Darlight festival (Ireland)
Festival Némo (Paris, France)
2005
Backup festival (new media in film) (Germany)
Festival Manifesto (Toulouse, France)
Videoformes (video and new media in contemporary art) (Clermont-Ferrand, France)

 

EDITIONS / BROADCASTS

12 of my films broadcast on Numéro 23 French tv channel
My film “Les 5 siamoises” edited in “Talents” dvd collection
5 of my films broadcast on Souvenirs From Earth tv channel

 

COMMISSIONED WORKS

Feature film visual effect
Carnage, Roman Polanski
Vous n’avez encore rien vu, Alain Resnais
The Ghost Writer, Roman Polanski
Astérix aux Jeux olympiques, Frédéric Forestier, Thomas Langmann
L’Auberge rouge, Gérard Krawczyk
The Last Legion, Doug Lefler
Angel, François Ozon
Taxi 4, Gérard Krawczyk
Hannibal Rising, Peter Webber
The Fall, Tarsem Singh
Jean-Philippe, Laurent Tuel
Renaissance, Christian Volckman
L’Avion, Cédric Khan
Live and become, Radu Mihaileanu
Un long dimanche de fiançailles, Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Human Nature, Michel gondry

Print
Kanye West G.O.O.D. Music cover
Nespresso
Playstation
Campari

Publicité
Shiseido
Paco Rabanne
Lancaster
Coca-cola
Renault
Peugeot
LU
VISA

Habillage Télé
MTV dance (ident)
Le Petit Journal, Canal +
M6 (ident)
Virgin 17 (ident)
Star channel (ident)
Star India (ident)



3D self-portrait. 2011. 3D CG image.


Self-portrait with spheres. 2008. Photo and 3D CG image in 20 cm x 30 cm format.


Self-portrait with spheres. 2008. Photo and 3D CG image in 20 cm x 30 cm format.