▶︎ ARTIST STATEMENT

Philippe Gourdon defines himself as an explorer of light.

Rather than representing light as it is, he uses it as a living material, shaped by time, geometry and perception.

Using algorithms, luminous lines and optical phenomena, he creates compositions in which movement is never mechanical. Nothing actually moves. Yet the eye perceives forms that ripple, expand, vibrate or appear to move through the action of light alone.

Philippe Gourdon's works offer a perceptual experience. Developed as luminous cycles without beginning or end, they encourage the viewer to experience time differently. Movement transcends a purely visual phenomenon to become a sensory experience.

His work is the culmination of a long creative journey in which invention plays a central role. Rather than a series of isolated works, it forms a coherent body of work in which each piece extends the same artistic investigation.

"Light cannot be drawn. It must first be experienced before it can be shared."

▶︎ BIOGRAPHY

From his earliest investigations into light to his current artistic practice, Philippe Gourdon has pursued a single line of inquiry: how light can generate movement while remaining immaterial.

For more than a decade, his work as a lighting designer received numerous international distinctions. In 1990, he was nominated for the Compasso d'Oro in Milan. In 1995, he participated in the exhibition Mutant Materials at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. His work subsequently entered the permanent collections of both the MoMA and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

A pioneer in the use of digital LED technologies, he developed innovative lighting concepts for different automotive manufacturers. During this period, his research focused on the psychology of colour and on creating light-material composites, in which light became an integral part of the material itself.

At the same time, the discovery of artists such as Nicolas Schöffer, Vassilakis Takis, and Julio Le Parc profoundly influenced his thinking and gradually led him toward an independent artistic practice.

Today, Philippe Gourdon develops a body of work based on programmable light. Through digital algorithms and optical transformations, he creates luminous trajectories in which movement is generated entirely by light itself. His work explores the tension between the physical stillness of the artwork and the movement perceived by the viewer.

▶︎ WHY LIGHT?

Origins

As far back as I can remember, two memories of light come to mind.

The first: lying in the back seat of my parents’ car as we drove through the illuminated tunnels of the Boulevard Extérieur — long before the ring road existed — I witnessed a kaleidoscope of light, where shadow traced, in dotted intervals, the interruptions of that fascinating moving spectacle.

The second takes place at night, in the darkness of my childhood bedroom. I followed the faint beam of light from my model locomotive. The whole game was to imagine circuits producing random animations on the walls, transformed into improvised screens.

Both may have been the beginnings of my fascination with animated light, later given form through my discovery of the early kinetic works of Nicolas Schöffer and Julio Le Parc.

▶︎ EXHIBITIONS

2026 : Rouen National Arts (Rouen)

2026 : Art Capital Grand Palais (Paris)

2025 : « Mirage » (Paris)

2025 : Salon Réalités Nouvelles (Paris)

2025 : Museo Carlos Cruz-Diez « Luminocinesis » (Solo exhibition) (Caracas)

2025 : Museo de Bellas Artes: « Los Amigos en Concreto » (Caracas)

2025 : Galerie Metahaus: « Fluctuation » (Paris)

2025 : Art Capital Grand Palais (Paris)

2024 : Salon Réalités Nouvelles (Paris)

2024 : Galerie Marino: « Le Cercle » (Paris)

2023 : Galerie Marino: « Confrontation » (Paris)

2023 : Galerie Metahaus: Exposition « In matérial » (Paris)

2023 : Galerie Gérard Bertrand: « Paradise » (Solo exhibition) (Narbonne)

▶︎ AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING DESIGN

The Roots of Artistic Work (2005/2015)

A pioneer in the use of digital LED technologies, he developed innovative lighting concepts for BMW, Citroën, Hyundai, Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, and Volkswagen. During this period, his research focused on the psychology of colour and on creating light-material composites, in which light became an integral part of the material itself.