Valentin Carron

Born in 1977 in Martigny (Switzerland), VALENTIN CARRON lives and works in the Swiss Canton of Valais.

A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Sion and ECAL, his work has been the subject of many solo exhibitions, including at Kunsthalle Bern; Le Consortium, Dijon; the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo La Conservera de Ceutí, Murcia; Kunsthalle, Zürich; the Swiss Institute, New York; and the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Genève.

He presented his works in group exhibitions at the Kunst Museum Winterthur, in Switzerland, the Fondation Van Gogh, Arles; the Sculpture Center in New York; the mudac, Lausanne; the Migros Museum Für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich; the Kunsthaus, Aarau; the Consortium, in Dijon; the Rubell Family Collection in Miami; the Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts of Lausanne; and the CAPC contemporary museum of Bordeaux.

Valentin Carron represented Switzerland at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013, embodying the country’s revitalised art scene.

A poacher artist, he bases his practice on appropriation strategies. Heir to pop art, and a resident of Valais, he looks at the landscapes he lives in. The works of art in public spaces or Swiss museums and foundations, the objects surrounding them, or the architecture of the Valais are sources of inspiration for the artist, which he diverts in a logic of subversion and play.
Valentin Carron’s work is all about matter and transubstantiation. Although his works take up well-known archetypal forms, the artist gives them a new content. His works play with the ambiguity of materials. Through the switch of material, he allows himself to reinterpret certain motifs and works of art. From granite to resin, from leather to glass, he pays homage with humour and casualness to sculptures from the past.
Valentin Carron thus deconstructs codes and hierarchies in art, highlighting forms that have fallen into disuse. The content, the form, and the meaning the three keys to understanding his work, which is itself in perpetual transformation.

Kamel Mennour and Valentin Carron have been working together since 2015.