Xavier Veilhan — Portfolio — Slash Paris

Xavier Veilhan is interested in archetypes, whether they are animals (his Bestiary includes a rhinoceros, a lion, a shark, penguins, horses, bears, etc.); human (the artist revisits the conception of the traditional statuary through stylized portraits); or mechanical (bicycles, boats, cars, and the Versailles carriage).

It is this physical sensation of speed, of movement that influences the gaze, on the perception of the world that interests Veilhan. This is why it is often associated with Italian futurism, which seeks at all costs to represent the movement of the world, the acceleration of people and things with progress. In an interview present on the Artcurial website he explains: “I like the car, the boat, the ski, the bike, the plane,… as tools that allow a different vision, dynamic, and with which the gaze is associated with a physical sensation.”

Like Koons and Murakami, Xavier Veilhan has fully integrated the mechanisms and tools of contemporary production into his artistic process. He uses other artists, subcontracts certain production segments of his works to specialized companies. Veilhan is increasingly working on the development of functional works, which are not content with representing or symbolizing, but which are useful.

Veilhan’s works come from a very unique process, reminiscent of the Computer Aided Design used by the automotive industries. Here’s how he describes his process for Artcurial: “I use and develop the technique of 3D capture. The models must remain stationary for twenty minutes in front of a scanner that is moved to obtain about twenty files which will then be recomposed into a single file: this will order a machine tool that carves a block of polyurethane foam, wood or polystyrene. Theoretically, I have no physical contact with this process, apart from the choice of the model and its installation, the size of the final work and the nature of the material used.”

The artist’s touch does not have the same meaning as before. By his own admission, his hand will have no contact with the work. But count the primary intention, the idea, the choice of the model, the material, the color and of course the place. The artist abdicates his power to do the technique to retain only his power to see and transmit his vision. Detaching himself from the work remains at the heart of his concerns: “For me, it is a question of dissociating the genesis from production. It allows me to take away the part of personal creativity from painting, to evacuate psychology.”

Les œuvres de Veilhan sont issues d’un procédé très singulier, qui n’est pas sans rappeler la Conception Assistée par Ordinateur que les industries automobiles utilisent.

Voici comment il décrit son process pour Artcurial: « J’utilise et je développe la technique de la captation en 3D. Les modèles doivent y rester immobiles pendant vingt minutes devant un scanner que l’on déplace pour obtenir une vingtaine de fichiers qui seront ensuite recomposés en un fichier unique : celui-ci commandera une machine-outil qui sculpte un bloc de mousse polyuréthane, de bois ou de polystyrène. Théoriquement, je n’ai pas de contact physique avec ce processus, hormis le choix du modèle et de sa pose, de la taille de l’œuvre finale et de la nature du matériau utilisé. »

La touche de l’artiste n’a plus le même sens qu’auparavant. De son propre aveu, sa main n’aura pas de contact avec l’œuvre. Mais comptent l’intention première, l’idée, le choix du modèle, du matériau, de la couleur et bien sûr du lieu. L’artiste abdique son pouvoir de faire à la technique pour ne conserver que son pouvoir de voir et de transmettre sa vision. Se détacher de l’œuvre reste au cœur de ses préoccupations : « Pour moi, il s’agit de dissocier la genèse de la production. Ça me permet d’enlever la part de créativité personnelle dans la peinture, d’évacuer la psychologie. »