As part of Art in Progress, a project undertaken by Massimo Dutti to bring art closer to its customers through artistic interventions in some of its most emblematic shops, french artist Martin Belou has exhibited his work in the Parisian shop on rue Royale.
Massimo Dutti incorporates artistic and artisanal touches into the design of its new concept shops. These redesigned interiors represent the brand’s natural evolution towards a more sophisticated shop concept. Through the use of handcrafted materials, artisanal techniques, furniture and a shift towards more organic shapes and neutral, natural colours, the shops now exude a sense of purity that enhances the brand’s updated image.
MASSIMO DUTTI
ART IN PROGRESS PARIS
MARTIN BELOU
Martin Belou
Martin Belou is a renowned artist working between Marseille and Brussels. He graduated in 2009 from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Clermont Métropole. Martin Belou creates situations and experiences using the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. Driven by intuition and mastery of craft techniques, he combines sculpture, drawings and organic materials he gleans and collects himself (mushrooms, seeds, wood, metal, charcoal, etc.) in installations that often evoke universal and ancestral notions and forms, which attempt to speak of our relationship with the world or, more simply, of the fundamental idea of community.
MASSIMO DUTTI
ART IN PROGRESS PARIS
MARTIN BELOU
The objects the artist produces deliberately combine sculpture and everyday objects. Martin Belou plays with the modular nature of the everyday objects and furniture he makes, allowing them to be integrated into the physical properties of the exhibition space. For each presentation, he produces environments, or “world-objects” as he calls them, that connect with each other and form an uninterrupted narrative thread between his projects. These transitory spaces, with undefined uses, are often activated by elements that appeal to the viewer’s senses (smoke, smells, bright lights) and give his works a mysterious, even enchanting character.
MASSIMO DUTTI
ART IN PROGRESS PARIS
MARTIN BELOU
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Her work has been presented in solo exhibitions, including ‘Remuer Ciel et Terre’ at Kunsthalle Ghent (2020); ‘Canicula’ at Bernier/Eliades, Brussels (2020), ‘Foyer’, Sans Titre (2016), in Paris (2020); ‘Pas de fumée sans feu’ at La Tôlerie, Clermont-Ferrand (2019); ‘FRGarde fou’ at Catherine Bastide Projects, Marseille (2019); ‘Objects, love and pattern’ at CIAP Kunstverein, Hasselt (2018) and ‘American Theatre’, at Levy-Delval Brussels (2017). He has also participated in group exhibitions such as: ‘Le pays du soleil’ at Futura, Prague (2020), ‘Futur, ancien, fugitif – ‘Une scène française’ at Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2019), in the exhibition ‘Natural Capital’ at Bozar, Brussels (2017), in ‘Feed me with your kiss’ at Confort Modern, Poitiers (2017); in ‘RUN RUN RUN RUN’ at Villa Arson Art Centre, Nice (2016).
This year, Martin Belou’s work will be presented in a solo exhibition at the Catherine Issert in Saint-Paul de Vence, as part of the biennial Chemin d’Art de Saint-Flour, at the Bastille Art Centre in Grenoble and in the town of Gouesnou in Finistère, as part of the Territoire-Extras exhibition organised by the Passerelle Art Centre in Brest and La Criée in Rennes. With each exhibition, the public is led to discover a new extension, constructed from an alloy of organic elements and stylised or mottled forms that lie between the field of sculpture and the standard industrial object.
« Le Mensonge des graines », 2023
Martin Belou
« Petit Arbre », 2023
Martin Belou
« Tourbillon », 2023
Martin Belou
« Horloge », 2023
Martin Belou
« Bénitier », 2023
Martin Belou
« Quilles », 2023
Martin Belou
« Une peinture », 2023
Martin Belou
« Boite amphore », 2023
Martin Belou
