The artist
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Stéphane Simon is a visual artist and designer. Born in the City of Nancy (north-east of France), from a family of fine craftsmen, he lives and works in Paris. Very early on, he developed an extraordinary sensitivity for creation, imbued with the drawing and engraving work of Jacques Callot (16th century), whose dexterity and perfection of the line fascinated him. He also admires the works of art of the artists of the School of Nancy, Gallé, Daum, Prouvé,Vallin, Majorelle animated at the beginning of the 20th century by a spirit of collective and permanent research both technically and formally, drawing their inspiration from the wonders and riches of nature, aiming at putting their creations within the reach of the greatest number and to design an “Art for all”.
He began his professional career as a consultant attached to the creation and art department of the Compagnie Française du Cristal Daum and was entrusted by the City of Nancy with the promotion and enhancement of all cultural events such as the celebration of the centenary of the birth of the designer Jean Prouvé. Stéphane Simon recognized himself in the humanist conception of creation of this exceptional visionary designer who had the wish to put his ideas and his inventiveness the service of the greatest number. He decided to found his own design agency in 2000. Works in steel and aluminum, works in glass, ceramics and wood, Stéphane Simon's creations will be presented successively at the Maison et Objets interior decoration and design fair in Paris, selected for the International Biennale of Design of Saint-Etienne and at the fair of out-doors design Jardins Jardins in the Tuileries Gardens. His furniture pieces will be used for the fitting of Baccarat Cristal and Max Mara shops as well as television shows such as “A star is born”. His ceramics work will be referenced by 107 Rivoli, the shop of the Decorative Arts Museums in Paris. At the same time, he developed a personal work of painting and drawing centered on the representation of the body and the figure. The singularity of his graphic treatment then opened the doors to several private art collections.
In 2008, he was chosen by the Ile-de-France Region to create “Le Lieu du Design in Paris” in order to support companies of all sizes in their strategic integration of a design approach. Its mission was also to set up a vast program of exhibitions accessible to all audiences. In 2016, for the 30th event programmed by the Lieu du Design since its creation, Stéphane Simon decided to propose and design the first French exhibition devoted to 3D printing technologies. This inventory of the best in technical innovation, showing several hundred pieces from all over the world, made sensation the general public as well as professionals coming the industry sector. On this occasion Stéphane Simon met Catherine Gorgé, General Secretary of the Gorgé Industrial Group, the 3rd manufacturer on world scale of additive manufacturing machines with a department dedicated to creative projects developed by designers and visual artists. He proposed to Catherine Gorgé to present to her the sculpture project on which he has been working in terms of research and prototypes for several years to which he wished to give a new scale report that only the 3D printing technologies developed by this French Group would be able achieve.
Two sculptures on a human scale will be produced thanks to the mobilization of human and technical resources from Initial-Les Créations based in Annecy. A series of exhibitions began and took place in iconic places as the Grand Palais, the Cité Internationale des Arts, Royal Palace Court facing the Louvre Museum, the UNESCO world headquarter in Paris on the occasion of the European Heritage Days in September 2019, and some different French cities like Enghien-les-Bains, Nancy and Saint-Etienne which confirmed the capacity of the sculptures to bring together and trigger an immediate interactive reaction among all audiences. From the official announcement designating the City of Paris to organize the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024, Stéphane Simon immediately decided to build an innovative and unifying, inclusive, authentic, joyful and meaningful project, reflecting the values of sport and of Olympism, which is today translated into a set of 10 human size sculptures representing five athletes and five disabled athletes coming from all continents, embodying a set of universal humanist values, in which any person can be brought to be able to identify, project or recognize himself.
