Whether they are figuratively defying gravity in Louis Vuitton’s Tokyo gallery space or physically breaking through a café ceiling in Paris, Xavier Veilhan’s works can’t help but garner hype. The French artist has turned his hand at everything from painting and photography to film and installation, but he is best known for his audacious sculptures.
His first major UK outdoor exhibition opens at Hatfield House on 7 April. Covering the grounds of the West Garden, 'Promenade' is a configuration of new site-specific pieces and recent greatest hits, such as 'Le Monument' - a startling red supremetist architectural space - and 'Les Rayons', a stunning, penetrable formation inspired by Fred Sandback and Jesús-Rafael Soto.
Colour is a main concern for Veilhan. He has tweaked the hues of some his previously seen works to give them new life at Hatfield House. ‘Vibration’, an inox steel composition based on the Amish horse and carriage, was first created in brown for the marble courtyard of the Shanghai World Expo, but now appears in a completely new shade of electric blue here.
It would be easy to compare this show to his much-lauded 2009 exhibition at Versaille, but Hatfield, with its leafy trees and natural garden foliage is an entirely different habitat to the structured formality of Versaille’s grounds. A giant aluminium horizontal statue of cosmonaut Youri Gagarine, for example, lies on its back entirely surrounded by grass - a strange but bucolic setting much unlike the stone floor in which it had previously been shown.
Indoors in the great 16th century Marble Hall, 'The Hatfield Mobile', a giant 21st century tangerine colour burst of an installation has been affixed to Giulio Taldini's ceiling and watches over 17th century Brussels tapestry and portraits of the likes of Queen Elizabeth I - a nice denoument to the anglo-french venture that has taken over Hatfield.
'Norman Foster' by Xavier Veilhan, 2011. Courtesy: Galerie Perrotin (Paris), Stephen Ambrose, Xavier Veilhan
'Le Gisant, Youri Gagarine' by Xavier Veilhan, 2009. Courtesy: Galerie Perrotin (Paris), Stephen Ambrose, Xavier Veilhan
'Alice' by Xavier Veilhan, 2012. Courtesy: Galerie Perrotin (Paris), Stephen Ambrose, Xavier Veilhan
'Vibration' by Xavier Veilhan, 2010-2012. Courtesy: Galerie Perrotin (Paris), Stephen Ambrose, Xavier Veilhan
'The Hatfield Mobile' by Xavier Veilhan, 2012. Courtesy Galerie Perrotin (Paris), Stephen Ambrose, Xavier Veilhan
ADDRESS
Hatfield House
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL9 5NQ
-
Messika’s fluid jewellery is given a textural twistThe Parisian brand borrows a textural finish previously reserved for high jewellery with its new collection, ‘Move Ciselé’
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshopNew Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports carECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
San Francisco’s controversial monument, the Vaillancourt Fountain, could be facing demolitionThe brutalist fountain is conspicuously absent from renders showing a redeveloped Embarcadero Plaza and people are unhappy about it, including the structure’s 95-year-old designer
-
See the fruits of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely's creative and romantic union at Hauser & Wirth SomersetAn intimate exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset explores three decades of a creative partnership
-
The glory years of the Cannes Film Festival are captured in a new photo book‘Cannes’ by Derek Ridgers looks back on the photographer's time at the Cannes Film Festival between 1984 and 1996
-
Technology, art and sculptures of fog: LUMA Arles kicks off the 2025/26 seasonThree different exhibitions at LUMA Arles, in France, delve into history in a celebration of all mediums; Amy Serafin went to explore
-
Inside Yinka Shonibare's first major show in AfricaBritish-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare is showing 15 years of work, from quilts to sculptures, at Fondation H in Madagascar
-
Contemporary artist collective Poush takes over Château La CosteMembers of Poush have created 160 works, set in and around the grounds of Château La Coste – the art, architecture and wine estate in Provence
-
Architecture, sculpture and materials: female Lithuanian artists are celebrated in NîmesThe Carré d'Art in Nîmes, France, spotlights the work of Aleksandra Kasuba and Marija Olšauskaitė, as part of a nationwide celebration of Lithuanian culture
-
Inside Jack Whitten’s contribution to American contemporary artAs Jack Whitten exhibition ‘Speedchaser’ opens at Hauser & Wirth, London, and before a major retrospective at MoMA opens next year, we explore the American artist's impact
