Born in France, 1989, works and lives in Brussels.
Bertrand Cavalier's work revolves around the notion of space. He investigates the interaction between people and their surroundings, particularly urban surroundings as they took shape in the age of modernism.
Cavalier's work shows, above all, how man and nature move in that built environment and affect it, thereby 'restructuring' it. His photographs are more sculptural translations of unique moments than objective documents of social phenomena. The objects and situations that he portrays are often recognizable and ordinary. The close ups used by Cavalier reveals, just as his presentation of the photographs does, the inherent structure of his subjects and how, as 'foreign objects', they break with the original order. In this way Cavalier emphasizes the various aspects of urban planning, including the unintentional, the 'mishap', as a quality that allows room for a subjective and personal use of the cities in which we live.
The common thread in Bertrand Cavalier's artistic thinking is his focus on the idea of the physical sensation, understood as our ability to share ideas and thoughts in ways other than through objective, factual information. Physical sensation is about our inner self and what we have in common. Through our senses, we share 'tacit' but significant, universal knowledge.
Cavalier's series ‘Concrete Doesn't Burn’ has been published in 2020 by Fw:Books. In 2019, he received the Sébastien Van der Straten fund for his ongoing project The Grid System. His work has been published with Art Press, American Suburb X and C4 Journal among others. In 2019, he participated to Plat(t)form at the Winterthur Photography Museum in addition to exhibitions at the FOMU Antwerp, FRAC Orléans, BredaPhoto and BIP Liège. In 2023, he will be resident at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
Education
2016 - 2018 | Royal Academy for Fine Arts, MFA in photography, Antwerp, BE |
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2010 - 2013 | School of Arts (Le 75), BA in photography, Brussels, BE |
Books
2020 | Concrete Doesn’t Burn published by Fw:Books * |
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Grants & Awards
2023 | bourse résidence arts visuels, sabam, BE |
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2023 | Aide à la mobilité internationale, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, BE |
2023 | Bourse d’aide à la création, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, BE |
2022 | Nominee, C/O Berlin Talent Award, Berlin, DE |
2022 | Flanders Art Fund |
2021 | Bourse d’aide à la création, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, BE |
2021 | Nominee, FOAM Paul Huf Award, Amsterdam, NL |
2019 | Shortlisted, Photographic Museum of Humanity Grant, IT |
2019 | Selected for .tiff, Fotomuseum FOMU, Antwerp, BE |
2019 | Winner, Sébastien Van der Straten Grant, BE |
2019 | Participant, Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, CH |
2018 | Nominee, International Photography Grant |
2018 | Cosmos pdf award, 2nd place, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, FR |
2015 | Fotofilmic’15, 2nd place, Vancouver, CA |
Selected shows
2023 | Espace JB, Geneva, CH (forthcoming) |
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2023 | Art Au Centre, Liège, BE (forthcoming) |
2023 | Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography, Photoforum Pasquart, Bienne, CH |
2023 | Exhibition 01, jette400, brussels, be |
2023 | THE NIGHT WATCH, radiophonic creation with Aho Ssan, curated by Claire Contamine, société d'électricité, brussels, be * |
2023 | Atlas Chimérique, gallery Talmart, curated by Sara Anedda, Paris, FR |
2023 | Frontwindows occupation, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, FR |
2023 | Topographie Sensible, gallery Talmart, curated by Ariane Skoda, Paris, FR |
2022 | Solo show, Madé gallery, Paris, FR |
2022 | Group show: Chance is logical, tegenboschvanvreden gallery, Amsterdam, NL |
2021 | Unseen fair with tegenboschvanvreden gallery, Amsterdam, NL |
2020 | Solo show with Concrete Doesn’t Burn, BIP, Beaux-Arts gallery, Liège, BE |
2019 | Fotofinish with Concrete Doesn’t Burn, Rietveld Pavilion, Amersfoort, NL |
2019 | Orléans Biennial with Space Between Us, FRAC, Orléans, FR |
2019 | 31 Days of .TIFF with Concrete Doesn’t Burn, FOMU, Antwerp, BE |
2018 | BredaPhoto with Concrete Doesn’t Burn, biennial, Breda, NL |
2018 | CBBF with Concrete Doesn’t Burn curated by Nadia Bijl, Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp, BE |
2018 | 45 Degrés, Mulhouse Photography Biennal, Mulhouse, FR |
2017 | New Faces with Concrete Doesn’t Burn, Hangar 18 Art Center, Brussels, BE |
2017 | Musée de la Photographie de Bruxelles / Museum van de Fotografie van Brussel, BE |
2017 | Inter City One Night Only, Contemporary Art Center Extra City, Antwerp, BE |
2016 | Omber, Odradek & Octaëder, curated by Hans Theys, D'Apostrof gallery, Meigem, BE |
2016 | Lost Narratives, Mayer Van Den Bergh Museum, Antwerp, BE |
2016 | Speaking in Tongues, with La Grotte, Biennale de l’image Possible (BIP), Luik, BE |
2015 | Fotofilmic, travelling exhibition, New York, Vancouver, Seoul |
2015 | Speaking in Tongues, with La Grotte, gallery Le Botanique, Brussels, BE |
2015 | Dehors La Grotte, with La Grotte, Dehors Contemporary Art Window, Brussels, BE |
2014 | La Jeune Création, Cent Quatre, Paris, FR |
2014 | ManifestO, Cours Dillon, Toulouse, FR |
Selected publications
2023 | Absys magazine, conversation with Claire Contamine, Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles (forthcoming) |
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2022 | Mouvement n°115, cover and portfolio * |
2021 | Hapax Magazine curated by Iris Siking * |
2021 | C4 Journal text by Eugenie Shinkle * |
2021 | Art Press n°488 with Concrete Doesn't Burn, text by Anne Immelé * |
2021 | Velvet Eyes interview with Ilias Lois * |
2021 | C41 Magazine with Concrete Doesn’t Burn * |
2021 | Punto de Fuga interview with Laura Carbonell * |
2021 | Phases with Concrete Doesn't Burn * |
2020 | American Suburb X ‘Concrete Doesn’t Burn, it Crumbles.’, text by Brad Feuerhelm * |
2019 | FRAC Centre ‘Years of Solitude’, exhibition catalogue, text by Bram Van Beek * |
2019 | PH Museum, ‘Architectural Banality in Post-War European Cities’, text by Laurence Cornet * |
2019 | Futures, European platform for photography, interview * |
2019 | GUP magazine, interview with Angelo Zinna * |
2019 | .TIFF magazine, Fotomuseum FOMU * |
2018 | ARPA journal 05, 'Contingent Objectives', Columbia University NYC, text by common room * |
2017 | The Belgian Platform for Photobooks interview by Stefan Vanthuyne with La Grotte collective, BE * |
Residencies, talks, lectures
2023 | Residency 2-12, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, FR |
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2021 | Residency, 6 months at Artwell, Amsterdam, NL |
2019 | Lecture, HELB, Brussels, BE |
2019 | Lecture, La Cambre Art School, Brussels, BE |
2019 | Lecture, KASKA Royal Academy for Fine Arts, Antwerp, BE |
2019 | Presentation, Belgian Night, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, FR |
2018 | Lecture, .tiff talks, FOMU, Antwerp, BE |
2018 | Talk, BredaPhoto with Sybren Vanoverberghe, Joris Deleersnyder and Saskia Naafs, Breda, NL |
2017 | Braakland residency, Speaking in Tongues, with La Grotte, FOMU, Antwerp, BE |
Public collections
Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain Centre-Val de Loire (FRAC Orléans), FR |
Collective projects
2023 - 202* | Jette400, artist run-space |
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2020 - 2022 | Plateau, artist run-space |
2018 | 45 Degrés with Fabien Silvestre Suzor and Massao Mascaro |
2012 - 2018 | co-founder of the Brussels based artist collective La Grotte * |