Paul Cox

(PLASTICIST / FRANCE) CURIAL NAVE

EXPOSITION A FAIRE SOI-MÊME [The D.I.Y exhibition]

As part of the artistic command of the City of Paris - 2008, Paul Cox proposes "Exposition à faire soi-même" (D.I.Y. exhibition), an impressive scale model of the venue allowing the public in the 104 to create its own miniature installations. (This work is currently undergoing maintenance. It should be visible again soon.)

BIOGRAPHY

Born in Paris in 1959 where he now lives, a self-taught artist, Paul Cox studied Art History and English literature.
After writing a dissertation on Lawrence Sterne and taking his higher teaching exam, he nevertheless quickly abandoned teaching, preferring to produce books for children alongside his painting, as well as posters (notably for the Ville de Paris, 1997 and the Opera in Nancy, 1996-2001), press illustrations, logos, etc. His growing interest in the Constructivists and other avant-gardes artists "who produced art on the side" encouraged him to follow in this multidisciplinary path. He also worked for the stage (set and costumes for the "Soldier's Story", at the Opera de Nancy in 1997, and for "The Nutcracker Suite" at the Geneva Opera in 2005), published games ("The Game of Love and Luck" and "Alphabetical Sculptures"), and is fascinated by all printing techniques which he uses more for experimental production than for reproduction – as in his series of modular card sets "A Sentimental Journey" and "La Carte du tendre perpétuel", which Issey Miyake used in one of his collections. He has been a member of the AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) since 2003.
Paul Cox has produced regular publications of his work to date (painting, artwork etc.) in book form, whose first volume, "Coxcodex 1", was published in 2004 by Éditions du Seuil. In 2005 the Pompidou Centre in Paris exhibited his enormous "Jeu de Construction", the first version of which was presented at the Musée de l’Objet in Blois, then in the gallery of the Nantes Fine Arts Academy. In December 2006, he designed the sets for the ballet "Amoveo" at the Opéra Garnier (music by Philip Glass, choreography by Benjamin Millepied, costumes by Marc Jacobs) and sets and costumes for "Petrushka" at the Geneva Opera in October 2007. Also in 2007, the Lux National Theatre in Valence exhibited his gigantic installation of slides entitled "Method".