It is with sadness that the Beaux-Arts de Paris learned of the death of Sylvie Fanchon on 14 April 2023.
An immense artist, she graduated from the school in 1980 and taught there from 2001 to 2019. As head of the studio, she co-directed the P2F workshop alongside Dominique Figarella and Bernard Piffaretti.
"I don't want technical prowess, I favour the surface, without ever introducing perspective, volume, shadow or light. Painting comes down to a simple observation: what to paint and how to paint, as Gerhard Richter says. Decontextualising elements of our visual culture by reworking them in an impersonal way, i.e. without affect or pathos, operates a shortcut, a telescoping, which forces us to readjust our perceptions, and thus to verify the extent to which our gaze is constructed by our cultures and our values. For me, it is not a question of arousing support for the sake of technique, but rather of giving "mental jolts" and disturbing our certainties." Sylvie Fanchon ²
Sylvie Fanchon's works can currently be seen in the group exhibitions Les professeurs gribouillent aussi at the graphic arts cabinet of the Beaux-Arts de Paris until 21 April 2023 and at Circulus at the Galerie Papillon until 6 May 2023.
With some fifty works in public collections, Sylvie Fanchon's work is present in more than 15 major French institutions, including the CNAP, the MAC VAL, the Centre Pompidou and several regional contemporary art funds. Sylvie Fanchon has also had important solo exhibitions at the CRAC in Sète (2015), at the FRAC Franche-Comté (2018), at the Espace de l'Art Concret (2019).
Photo: Sylvie Fanchon surrounded by Jean de Loisy, Pierre Alferi, and Kathy Alliou at the Gratitude ceremony organised on 29 April 2019 in her honour, to thank her for her contribution to the high level of teaching provided at the School.
² extract from Sylvie Fanchon monograph published on the occasion of her donation and the entry into the collection of her work Caractères Texts by Pierre Alféri and Ingrid Luquet-Gad. Beaux-Arts de Paris editions
