Daniel Firman
With his eye-popping sculptures, Daniel Firman freezes moments of time and action in precarious balance. Nasutamanus epitomizes the concerns and methods of his practice; it is a taxidermied elephant that seems to float weightlessly in the gallery space, attached only to the wall by its trunk. In this as in all of his works, Firman seeks to construct the presence of such amorphous concepts as time, balance, weight, action, and gravity. Other sculptures include human figures struck in precarious poses or supporting unwieldy constructions atop their shoulders. “I demand much effort of my models in order that they remain immobile until they are exhausted, and it is with this approach to time that I create sculpture,” he says. Always focused on the body, Firman has also explored performance art—including choreographed works in which he constructs enclosures around himself—and crafted immersive, overwhelming sound installations of “Drone Music.”
Live and Works in Bordeaux and New York.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018
- Solo show, Choi&Lager Gallery, Art Brussels fair, Brussels, Belgium
2017
- Black whole for whales, Base sous-marine de Bordeaux, France
- Infra Gravity, Space K, Seoul, Korea
2016
- I’m keeping my distance, Choi&Lager, Köln, Germany
- The Fragment Dimension, The Pill®, Istanbul, Turquey
2014
- Grandeur. French Sculpture from Laurens until today, museum Beelden aan Zee
- Sculptuur Instituut, EL Den Haag, Netherlands
2013
- La matière grise, Contemporary art Museum, Lyon, France
2011
- Backflip, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, France
2009
- SSHH, Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
- Bunny, Louis Vuitton store, Artyvitrine event, Lyon, France
2008
- Wûrsa (from 18 000 kilometers of the earth), Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
- Daniel Firman, headquarters of Arte, in partnership with FRAC Alsace, Strasbourg, France
2007
- La masse grave, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
2006
- Toucher : Coulé, Le Grand Café, Saint-Nazaire, France
- Le foulard d’Isidora, French cultural center of Milan, Italy
- Essences insensées, Parcours Saint-Germain event, Christian Lacroix store, Paris,
- France – exhibition curator : Anne-Pierre d’Albis-Ganem
2005
- Fiac 2005, Galerie Alain Gutharc booth, Paris, France
- Push-pull, School of Fine Arts/Edouard Manet Gallery, Genevilliers, France
- Daniel Firman, Galerie Artra, Milan, Italy
2004
- Liquid cristal, Espacio Sin Titulo, Galerie Cano (estudio), Madrid, Spain
- Danse le en déflexion, Galerie Alain Gutharc, Paris, France
- Co-intégral, Caisses des Monuments historiques du Languedoc-Roussillon, Cité de
- Carcassonne, Forteresse de Salses, Cité médiévale d’Aigues-Mortes, FRAC
- Languedoc-Roussillon, France
- Autoreverse, Néon, Lyon, France
2002
- OAP en 3 zones, Abbaye Saint-André, Centre d’art contemporain de Meymac, France
- OAP en zone commerciale, Le Parvis, Tarbes, France
- Dé-modélisation, Galerie Barnoud, Dijon, France
2001
- Usual globality, Espace d’art contemporain d’HEC, Jouy-en Josas, France
- Élémentaire, Galerie Artra, Milan, Italy
2000
- Scattering / gathering, La Napoule Art Foundation, château de la Napoule,
- Mandelieu La Napoule, France
- Correspondant / correspondance, la Chambre Blanche, Québec, Canada
1999
- Nature d’un lieu (à propos d’un Ecart), Frac Bourgogne, Dijon, France
1995
- Espace d’Art Contemporain de la ville de Paris, France
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018
- Musée en oeuvre(s), Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, France
- Collection, Contemporary art museum of Lyon, France
- Hyperrealism Sculpture, Kunsthal Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Group show, OAK Design Gallery, Collectible Design Fair, Brussels, Belgium
- Group show, Galerie Ceysson & Bénétière, Art Brussels fair, Brussels, Belgium
- Group show, Galerie Sébastien Adrien, Paris, France
- Group show, Rarity Gallery, Mykonos, Greece
2017
- The Transported man, curator : Marc-Olivier Wahler, The Eli and Edythe Broad MSU Art Museum, Lansing, United states,
- Il est urgent de… l’art, FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azuz, Pierre et Marie Curie, Menton High school, France
- SUPRA REEL, MEMENTO – contemporary art space, Auch, France
- GOSH! IS IT ALIVE?, ARKEN Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishøj, Danemark
- Horizons, Collection en mouvement du Frac Limousin, La Bergerie, Moutier d’Ahun, France
- Imaginaires d’un monde in-tranquille, Abbaye Saint André – Centre d’art contemporain, Meymac, France
- Rencontres à Réattu, Musée Réattu, Les Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles, France
- Hyper Real, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
2016
- La French Touch, Artspace Boan 1942, Seoul, Corea
- Loft Story, Ciam La Fabrique, Toulouse, France
- Dada est tatou, GDM Galerie de Multiples, Paris, France
- Escultura Hiperrealista, Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain
- Le Cabaret au Salon, curator Ami Barak, Le Beffroi, Salon de Montrouge, France
- YOKO ONO Lumière de L’aube, MAC Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France
- Quindry present OAK, Quindry Antiquies, London, United Kingdom
2015
- 2000 + 15 (15 years after), Blue Project Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
- Et bien dansez maintenant!, Centre d’art contemporain de Pontmain, France
- Bonjour La France, Seoungnam Art Centre & Goyang Culture Foundation, Seongnam & Goyang, Korea, Curated by Sunhee Choi
- À l’avant-garde du Style, AD Intérieurs, Palais d’Iéna, Paris, France
2014
- G I R L, curated by Pharell Williams, Galerie Perrotin, Paris, France.
- Décors à vivre : Les Arts Décoratifs accueillent AD Intérieurs, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
2013
- Happy Birthday Galerie Perrotin / 25ans, TRIPOSTAL, Lille, France
2012
- Rob Pruitt’s Flea Market, Monnaie de Paris, France
- The Circus as a Parallel Universe, Kunsthalle Wien, Austria
- Néon. Who’s afraid of red yellow and blue?, La Maison Rouge, Paris, France
2010
- MAGIC, Domaine Départemental de Chamarande, Essonne, France
2009
- Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Miami, United States
- Le sort probable de l’homme qui avait avalé le fantôme, La Conciergerie – Mnam Centre
- Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
- The Hidden Land, gallery Nettie Horn, London, England
2008
- Château de Tokyo / Palais de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau, France
- Less is less, more is more that’s all, CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, France
- Valeurs croisées, les Ateliers de Rennes / Contemporary art Biennale, Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes, France
2007
- Dérive, Fondation d’entreprise Paul Ricard, curator Mathieu Mercier, Paris, France
- De leur temps (2), Art contemporain et collections privées en France, Musée de Grenoble, France
- Zone de Productivités concertées, volet 2, Mac/Val, Musée d’art contemporain du Val de Marne, curator Frank Lamy, France
2006
- Génération Picasso, curator Anne-Pierre d’Albis-Ganem, FIAC 2006, Grand Palais, Paris, France
- Biennale Art Grandeur Nature, curator Eric Joly, Blanc-Mesnil, France
2005
- Nuit blanche, La Poste du Louvre, Paris, France
- L’idiotie experience pommery #2, domaine Pommery, curator Jean-Yves Jouannais, Reims, France
- Anthologie der kunst, ZKM museum, curator Jochen Gerz, Karlsruhe, Germany
- El estado de las cosas, Centro-museo Vasco de Arte Contemporaneo, Vitoria, Spain
2004
- O estado das cousas, Museo de arte contemporànea de Vigo, Spain
- Valeurs, Biennale de Pancevo, curators Igor Antic & Svetlana Mladenov, Serbia
2003
- Extra!, Swiss Institute, curator M.O.Walher, New-York, United States
2002
- Art Chicago, Galerie Barnoud, Chicago, United States
- Céramiques d’artistes II, Musée Ariana, curator Anne-Claire Schumacher, Genève, Switzerland
- Voilà la France, Cesac, experimental Center for contemporary art, Caraglio, Italy
2001
- Ibilerak, Las representaciones del andar, at Koldo mixtelena kulturunea, Donostia San Sebastian, Spain
- The happy face of globalisation, 1st Biennal of ceramic in contemporary art, curators Tiziana
- Casapietra, Roberto Constantino, Albisola, Italy
2000
- Transfert, art dans l’espace urbain, curator Marc-Olivier Wahler, Biel-Bienne, Switzerland
- Les figures de la marche, de Beuys à Nauman, curators Maurice Fréchuret, Thierry Davila, Musée Picasso, Antibes, France
Julie attitude | 2016, painted resin, steel, clothes, wig, 167x50x53 cm
I'm keeping my distance (Lyse) | 2016, bronze, tbc
Modelé avec la langue sur polyfoam | 2016, plaster, 21x32 cm
Modelé avec la langue #2 | 2016, plaster
Saisir l'impossible (Guillaume) | 2016, bronze, tbc
Inside Jeanne | 2016,bronze, polished and painted face, 25x13x14 cm
Inside Gwendal | 2016,bronze, polished and painted face, 25x15x15 cm
Exhibition view Infra Gravity | 2017, Space-K, Seoul
Exhibition view Infra Gravity | 2017, Space-K, Seoul
Exhibition view Infra Gravity | 2017, Space-K, Seoul
Exhibition view Infra Gravity | 2017, Space-K, Seoul
Exhibition view Infra Gravity | 2017, Space-K, Seoul
SPACE-K SEOUL: INFRA GRAVITY | 2017
