Fabrice Hyber

Fabrice Hybert (born 12 July 1961), also known as Fabrice Hyber, is a French visual artist. His work engages with themes from nature, economics, commerce, and science in drawing, sculpture, installations, and video.

Hyber was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 2018. In March 2022, he was appointed chairman of the Centre national des arts plastiques (France) by order of the Minister of Culture.

Hybert has stated that his work explores “the enormous reservoir of the possible”. In 2004, he began to refer to himself as Fabrice Hyber.

Early life and education Hybert was born in Luçon, Vendée on 12 July 1961. After spending his childhood in Vendée, Hybert studied mathematics and physics before enrolling in art studies. From 1979 to 1985, he studied at the Nantes School of Fine Arts.

Career In 1981, Hybert produced his first painting, Square meter of lipstick. In 1984, it was shown at the . That same year he presented his first solo exhibition, Mutation, in Nantes.

Environmental themes are frequently present in his work. In 2000, he was commissioned to create a project for the Arc de Triomphe. In 2001, Sidaction commissioned him to create L'Artère, installed in the Parc de la Villette, which was developed between 2002 and 2006.

In 2007, he installed Le Cri, l'Écrit in the Jardin du Luxembourg, a public commission commemorating the end of slavery in France.

Hyber designed sculpture gardens in Japan and Texas. He collaborated with the architectural firm Jakob + MacFarlane on the Euronews headquarters in Lyon (2015). In 2018, he produced painted decorations for the glass roof of the Parisian palace Lutetia. He also produced "Les Deux Chênes" for Beaupassage from the double molding of a three-hundred-year-old tree from the Vendée valley.

In 2021, Hyber became ambassador of the “ONF-Agir pour la forêt” fund.

Hyber frequently incorporates scientific themes into his work. He has worked on projects connected with the Institut Pasteur. In 2007, he collaborated with the American biotechnologist Robert S. Langer on the theme of stem cells, as well as with the Institut Pasteur and Professor Olivier Schwartz. With the COVID-19 pandemic, he explored themes related to viruses.

Hyber established partnerships with companies early in his career. He founded the SARL UR: Unlimited Responsibility in 1994, open to other creators.

Hyber collaborated with a spirits company in 2021 and with a luxury leather goods designer in 2022.

Selected projects

The POFs Beginning in 1991, Hyber developed what he calls POFs (Prototypes of in-operation objects) inspired by everyday life. Examples include Endless Staircase, the Swing or the Square Balloon.

In 2018, the Maison des POF was created as part of the percent for art for the new building of the Nantes Art School.

L’Homme de Bessines As a commission for the town of Bessines (Deux-Sèvres) in 1991,

The Spiral TV project produced for the Wacoal Art Center in Tokyo in 1999 explored similar themes.

Inconnu.net From September to November 2000, Hyber deployed a belt of a hundred birch trees around the Arc de Triomphe, supported by the inconnu.net website.

L'Artère, le jardin des dessins In 2001, to mark the 20th anniversary of the appearance of AIDS, the Sidaction association launched a call for projects for the creation of a commemorative monument. Hyber's project was an ensemble made up of ceramics designed by the artist and produced in Monterrey, Mexico. Produced from 2002 to 2006, the work installed in the Parc de la Villette is described as a rhizomatic storyboard.

Le Cri, L'Écrit Announced in 2006 by President Chirac, this public work was dedicated to the end of slavery in France. The 3.7m high polychrome bronze sculpture was completed in 2007.

C’Hyber(t) Rallies Hybert developed the first “Hyber(t) Rally” in Tokyo in 2001. The project invites spectators to take part in a treasure hunt to find objects hidden in everyday spaces. It has been duplicated in other locales.

Collections

Public collections (selection)

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Centre Pompidou MUDAM Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art Frac des Pays de la Loire CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux

Exhibitions Solo exhibitions (selection) 2016 « L’entier » par Fabrice Hyber, Cyrille Putman et galerie quatre, Arles, France

2020 Habiter la forêt, Nathalie Obadia Gallery, Paris, France

2021 Frisson d'Hyber, Gilles Drouault, galerie/multiples, Paris, France Fresh Air, RX gallery, New York, United States L'Artère 2021, La Villette, Paris, France

2022 Limited Edition hyberFournet, Camille Fournet’s shop, Paris, France L'Homme de Bessines, Palais Royal, Paris, France POF, Lasécu, Lille, France

2024 La forêt et L’amitié, installation métro Shanghai, China Humeurs, Villa Cavrois, Croix, Lille, France

Collective exhibitions (selection) 2004

F2004@Shanghai, Année de la France en China, La Fabrique, Shanghai

2019

Coup de foudre, with Nathalie Talec, Foundation EDF, Paris Nous les arbres, Fondation Cartier

2020 Habiter la forêt, Obadia Gallery Paris, France

2021 Napoléon ? Encore !, Army Museum (Paris), Paris, France Trees, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China

2022 Vous êtes un arbre, Les Franciscaines, Deauville, France Petit précipité subjectif d’une histoire des graines , Le 104, Paris, France

2023 Au temps du sida, œuvres, récits et entrelacs, Museum of modern and contemporary art of Strasbourg, MAMCS, Strasbourg, France

2024 L’Homme de bois, Travel in Nantes, 13e edition, Nantes, France