French visual artist Jean-Michel Othoniel has transformed the historic Papal Palace in Avignon into a stunning showcase of monumental blown glass sculptures, creating what he calls an artistic dialogue with the music of Philip Glass, Lully, and Beethoven. The ambitious exhibition, titled 'OTHONIEL COSMOS or The Ghosts of Love,' represents the largest project ever conceived by the renowned sculptor and runs through January 4, 2026.
Born in Saint-Étienne in 1964, Othoniel has been creating his distinctive artistic universe since the late 1980s. The year 1993 marked a pivotal turning point in his career when he began collaborating with master craftsmen from Murano, Italy, to explore the properties of glass, which has since become his signature medium. The delicacy of glass and the subtlety of its colors form part of the artist's vast project to poeticize and re-enchant the world.
Othoniel's aesthetic is founded on the concept of 'emotional geometry.' Through the repetition of modular elements like bricks or beads—his signature and most recurring motif—he creates sculptures whose relationship to human scale ranges from intimate to monumental. His preference for materials with reversible and often reflective properties, particularly the blown glass that has been emblematic of his practice since the early 1990s, echoes the profoundly ambiguous nature of his art.
The artist's works are simultaneously monumental and delicate, baroque and minimal, poetic and political. His contemplative forms have the power to reconcile opposites. His dedication to site-specific commissions for public spaces gives part of his work an architectural and social dimension. His sensitivity also brings him closer to feng shui, or the art of harmonizing people with their environment, in his case by allowing the public to inhabit his world through reflection and movement.
Since his participation in Documenta Kassel in 1992, Othoniel has exhibited worldwide. In 2011, a major retrospective titled 'My Way' was held at the Centre Pompidou, later presented in Seoul in 2012, then in Tokyo, Macao, and New York. Recent exhibitions include shows at the Petit-Palais in 2021, Seoul in 2022, New York in 2023, and Finland in 2024.
His first public commission in Paris in 2000, 'Le Kiosque des Noctambules' (The Night Owls' Kiosk), launched a series of prominent public installations. Notable projects include exceptional golden glass fountain sculptures in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles called 'Les Belles Danses' (The Beautiful Dances), and 'Alfa,' an installation of 114 fountain sculptures for the new National Museum of Qatar.
In 2019, a series of paintings titled 'La Rose du Louvre' (The Rose of the Louvre) entered the permanent collection of the Louvre Museum. In 2023, he was invited to create his first bridge, 'Le Pont au Boules d'Or' (The Golden Balls Bridge) for the remarkable garden of Méréville, and the city of Sète commissioned him to redesign Victor Hugo Square, where he proposed 'La Fontaine des Fleurs Mouvantes' (The Moving Flowers Fountain).
The current Avignon celebration commemorates both the 25th anniversary of the city's designation as European Capital of Culture and the 30th anniversary of its inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The city entrusted Othoniel with investing its emblematic sites and museums to reveal their richness and singularity. He has deployed a gigantic artistic constellation throughout the papal city, with Love as its celestial vault—a major national event and the largest project ever conceived by the sculptor.
This exceptional exhibition, spread across 10 unique locations, features 240 works by Othoniel, including 160 pieces previously unseen in France. Simultaneously, the artist is presenting 'Poussière d'étoiles' (Stardust) at La Malmaison in Cannes through January 4, 2026. This exhibition invites visitors into his universe where glass and light interweave to create a unique immersive and sensory experience across 600 square meters of the Art Center, including the forecourt and terrace.
Among the 91 pieces presented in Cannes, 53 were specifically designed for La Malmaison, in harmony with its exceptional environment and history. The artist tells a fairy-tale story filled with dreams and light, immersing visitors in the magic and history of La Malmaison, the oldest residence on the Croisette. These works invite reverie and echo the inexhaustible light of the Mediterranean sun, the glitter of the Cannes International Film Festival, and the azure blue of the Cannes sea and sky.
Othoniel's works are present in several contemporary art museums, foundations, and private collections worldwide. He is represented by Perrotin, Kukje (Seoul), and Simões de Assis (São Paulo) galleries. The artist's philosophical approach to his work reflects his belief in art's power to transform spaces and experiences, creating bridges between the monumental and the intimate, the historical and the contemporary.
