Parigi, 24 maggio 2026 – Per Étienne Moyat, la creazione non è mai vista come un punto di arrivo, ma piuttosto come un viaggio continuo all’interno della sua pratica artistica. Consapevole del suo legame con il passato, l’artista colloca la sua opera all’interno di un continuum nel quale cui gesto, materia e memoria sono inseparabili. Una volta intrapresa una strada il resto si dispiega con naturalezza, poiché il percorso permane intenzionalmente aperto e in uno stato di evoluzione, libero finalità predeterminate
ÉTIENNE MOYAT: LIFE LINE (LIGNE DE VIE)
From April 24 to July 31, 2026, as part of a year of exhibitions dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Constantin Brancusi, Galerie Negropontes Paris is presenting a solo show by Étienne Moyat. The exhibition Life Line (Ligne de vie) brings together a series of carved panels and wooden sculptures, as well as a selection of recent paintings. Moyat’s work resonates with Brancusi’s legacy through an essential connection to wood, gesture, form, and time.
View of the exhibition Life Line (Ligne de vie) © Francis Amiand
For Étienne Moyat, creation is never viewed as an endpoint, but rather as an ongoing journey within his artistic practice. Mindful of his connection to the past, the artist situates his work within a continuum where gesture, material, and memory are inseparable. Once a path is chosen, the rest unfolds naturally—a path that remains intentionally open and in a state of evolution, free from fixed finality. Trained as a master cabinetmaker, Moyat works directly from trees sawn into slabs, following the principle of taille directe (direct carving). Much like Brancusi, he views wood not merely as a material but as a living substance imbued with temporality, history, and energy. He engages with the wood through carving, burning, brushing, and painting—a respectful, attentive dialogue with what the medium itself reveals. His use of the chainsaw, a paradoxically liberating tool, allows for a gesture that is at once free, instinctive, and precisely controlled.
View of the exhibition Life Line (Ligne de vie) © Francis Amiand
The exhibition brings together a collection of carved panels and wooden sculptures, where surfaces are traversed by fluid lines, layers, and rhythmic patterns. These works bear witness to a conscious, measured practice in which technique recedes to make way for sensory experience. They exist within a transient and fragile logic, rooted in a continuous search for equilibrium. Punctuating this sculptural body of work, the exhibition also introduces a selection of recent paintings – a new development in the artist’s practice. Approached with profound freedom of gesture and emotion, these paintings extend the explorations of his sculpture, investigating the relationship between movement, rhythm, and time through a different medium. Painting becomes a space for experimentation, where energy circulates in new ways while remaining deeply connected to his sculptural concerns. Drawing inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Expressionism, and Primitivism, Moyat works on a large scale with a spontaneous, instinctive approach. Vibrant colours, thick impasto, and rhythmic compositions transform the canvas into a field of sensory exploration that resonates with his work in wood.
View of the exhibition Life Line (Ligne de vie) © Francis Amiand
Whether carving or painting, Étienne Moyat explores our connection to the living world, to space, and to time. His work exists in a direct relationship with material and gesture, inviting the viewer into a deeply emotional experience.
INFO
Étienne Moyat
Life Line (Ligne de vie)
April 24 – July 31, 2026
Galerie Negropontes Paris
14-16 rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau
75001, Paris, France
