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 âÂÂthe enormous reservoir of the possibleâÂÂ. In 2004, he began to refer to himself as Fabrice Hyber.
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.
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'ÃÂcrit 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 âÂÂONF-Agir pour la forêtâ 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. One of UR's objectives is to fund artistic projects.
In 1995, the Musée d'Art moderne de Paris presented the âÂÂHybertmarchéâ exhibition in collaboration with the University of Lünebourg, involving Hyber and UR company.
Hyber collaborated with a spirits company in 2021 and with a luxury leather goods designer in 2022.
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.
As a commission for the town of Bessines (Deux-Sèvres) in 1991, Hyber dispersed six bronze figures painted green in the village. At a height of 87 cm, each sculpture is pierced by eleven holes from which jets of water shoot out. The sculpture has been reproduced in several hundred copies, of varying sizes and appearances.
Invited to use the French pavilion at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997, Hyber created Eau d'Or, Eau Dort, Odor, an experimental filming studio with the participation of Jean Rouch and the public. The project received a Golden Lion award.
The Spiral TV project produced for the Wacoal Art Center in Tokyo in 1999 explored similar themes.
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.
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.
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.
Hybert developed the first âÂÂHyber(t) Rallyâ 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.
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