France

Alexandre
Joly

Biography

Alexandre Joly was born in France in 1977 in the little town of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, just across the border with Switzerland. From 1997 to 2003, he followed his under- and post- graduate studies at the then Fine Arts and Applied Arts School (now know as HEAD) in Geneva, where he now lives and works. He has received many prestigious awards including numerous grants and several residencies. 

 

In 2010, the Swiss artists in labs residency exchange program by Pro Helvetia led him to collaborate with biologists in China where he studied and recorded batrachians. He collaborates regularly with dance and theatre companies, contributing to their original creation. In 2016, Alexandre Joly received a Visual Arts Grant from the city of Geneva.

About the artworks

Nature, landscapes and animals are recurrent themes in Alexandre Joly's installations. Gradually and in a constant desire to surprise himself while looking for the magical, the artist has developed a body of work that is in mutation. There is an enchantment in every one of his art pieces; a form of research for a particular perception coupled with a wish to share a marvellous world. Mythology, sacred places, – and primitive forces are layered in different chronologies and sensory incentives, evoking childhood memories and fantasies through wild and exuberant iconography, recalling comic book and Manga imagery.

 

Most often his works are kinetic and resonant. Alexandre Joly is interested in creating sound through the vibration of different surfaces. For several years now, he has been using tiny piezo loudspeakers implanted in different surfaces such as gallery walls, logs and stuffed animals which are connected with copper wire to create a network that amplifies natural sound, sometimes mixed with electronic sounds and frequencies. The sound in his installations becomes a material to sculpt, reinforcing the visuals. 

The artworks

02
Collection of contemporary art