Sylvie Poinsot

Paris, France

Official Website:

ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHY

Born in France , Sylvie Poinsot has cultivated her sensibility through theater workshops that she attended for many years, and through exhibitions that she explored with intense concentration throughout her life. In 1997, she took life drawing classes with Jean Claude Athané, a sculptor and former student of Zadkine , then embarked, for several years, on an exploration with charcoal and pastel, based on live models or her imagination. In 2006, she added painting to her repertoire, and began intense research work by painting numerous expressionist portraits strong in emotional intensity. In 2008, she attended the workshop of Yves Devaux-Veeska, Founder of the "Peindre en liberté" foundation , who followed her personal journey throughout 2010, like a benevolent eye, in her exploration of painting. In 2012, following an exhibition of Louis Soutter's works in Paris, she undertook to explore India ink drawing, once again focusing on portraits.

In parallel, she participated in writing workshops , and a first collective collection of texts, "Portraits croisés," based on some of her paintings, was released in September 2014. A second collection of texts, "À la volée," in July 2015. Finally, a short story "Parenthèse : éclairage sur une folie ordinaire" was published by Éditions l'Harmattan in September 2016. In 2016, a major turning point occurred as Sylvie Poinsot, after having traversed the numerous meanders of figuration and semi-figuration, chose to explore a new artistic niche: lyrical abstraction.

ARTISTIC JOURNEY AND APPROACH

FIRST PERIOD: 1996-2015 – Expressionist Figuration

Coming from the world of theater, Sylvie Poinsot did not, however, abandon her old affiliations , as she transposed theatrical elements and visual arts into a passionate fusion, which is a true profession of faith. The character and masks are central to her concerns ; faces sketched with broad strokes of vibrant, feverish colors. An expressionism entirely subject to her inner visions, to the tearing of the heart's walls. The artist acknowledges several influences in the development of her art. According to Martine Bouchard-Chroniquart (Québec, 2012), one perceives in her production the same arterial effervescence, the same uncompromising frankness, the fury to paint, which erupt in Basquiat's works, although their works are very different. The same visceral raw emotion emanates from their respective work. The only difference: in Sylvie Poinsot's work, there is no distraction, no invasive pictorial environment. The spotlight is focused on the sole subject, stripping them bare in all their vulnerability and existential fragility. The artist works with oil, acrylic on canvas, dry pastel, and ink on paper ; offering with beautiful generosity, personal works, all in depth and candor. Pure creative energy. While her acrylics are composed with a wide palette of colors, with exuberance, her pastels, on the contrary, are created with a few very sure strokes. In a few lines and movements, the artist suggests portraits very dense in expressive quality. The gaze, above all, is important in her works. It brings to life and vibrates the soul of the subjects, to the rhythm of the artist's intimate, unique, and shattering expressionism. Sylvie Poinsot has a quite abundant body of work to see, which will leave no one indifferent and will certainly appeal to lovers of powerful works. (Martine Bouchard-Chroniquart-Québec-2012)

SECOND PERIOD: Since 2016 – A New Creative Avenue: Lyrical Abstraction

After having traversed the numerous meanders of figuration and semi-figuration, Sylvie Poinsot returns to us with a completely new artistic niche: lyrical abstraction. The artist, after timid and cautious first steps, has found her cruising rhythm in this new "creative path," as she herself calls it. The movements are fluid, pure, and no longer seek to relate to any realistic projection. The artist's legendary epidermal sensibility strongly resonates the indelible bond that binds her to her medium. This time, a luminous spontaneity, supported by a completely new color palette. Pure, primary, primitive colors, which simply and entirely reveal the inexhaustible passion of this unconditional lover of total art. She demonstrates that she is capable of harmonizing the "dissident harmonies" of pure expressionism: the eternal duality between heart and reason. A beautiful expression of pictorial and chromatic freedom and speculation. Sylvie Poinsot once again reveals her full artistic potential. Her new creative path is certainly worth the detour. (Martine Bouchard-Chroniquart-Québec-2016)

AWARDS RECEIVED

2025: Ambassador of Mediterranean Art Award, organized by the Alessandro Costanza-Palermo Foundation, Carini Castle (Palermo)
2019: Oscar della Creativita, Art-Expo Gallery, Hôtel de Paris, Monte Carlo.
2016: Leonardo Da Vinci Award, Florence (Italy).
2014: Michelangelo Award, Florence (Italy)

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 (May): "Envole lyrique", Painting/India inks, Galerie Abel Gance, Paris.
2011 (August): "Eloge du vivant", Painting, Galerie Arts et Société, Paris.
2006 (October): "Essences de femmes", Painting/pastel, Bar Galerie, Paris.
2006 (March): Virtual exhibition on the theme of the circus, Pastel, Site: ARTSCAD, Internet.
2005 (July): "Italie", Pastel, Galerie, Vitorchiano.
2005 (Jan-Feb): "Interrogations et ruptures", Pastel, Théâtre de la Main d'Or, Paris.
2004-2007: "Italie", Pastel, Libreria dei Salici, Viterbo.
2003 (April): "Fantasmagories", Pastel, Centre d'animation DAVIEL, Paris.
2001 (April-May): "Corps de femmes", Pastel/Charcoal, Association Noues, Montreuil.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025 (October): Homage to St. Francis of Assisi, Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Rome, Italy
2025 (May): L'Ambasciatore dell'Arte Mediterraneo (Award), Contemporary Art, Carini Castle, Italy.
2024 (May): L'Art en chemin, Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Galerie Thuillier, Paris, France.
2023 (May): L'Art en chemin, Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Galerie Thuillier, Paris, France.
2022 (June): Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
2021 (August): Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan.
2021 (May): Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Maru Art Center, Seoul, Korea.
2019 (September): Monte Carlo Award, Contemporary Art, Hôtel de Paris, Monte Carlo.
2018 (March): Biennale of Nations, Contemporary Art, Palazzo della Misericordia, Venice, Italy.
2017 (Jul-Aug-Sept): Group exhibition, Contemporary Art, Galerie Mp Tresart, Durham-Sud, Quebec.
2017 (Jan-Jun): Auction, Contemporary Art, Hôtel des ventes de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2016 (Sept-Oct-Nov-Dec): Auctions, Contemporary Art, Hôtel des ventes de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
2016 (July): Luxembourg Art Prize, Contemporary Art, Galerie Hervé Lancelin, Luxembourg.
2016 (January): Leonardo da Vinci Award, Contemporary Art, Palazzo Borghese, Florence, Italy.
2015 (February): Being human, Contemporary Art, Studio 26, New York, U.S.A..
2015 (January-February-March): Soleil d'Hiver, Contemporary Art, Galerie Mp Tresart, Durham-Sud, Quebec.
2014 (November): Auction, Contemporary Art, Salle des ventes Rossini, Paris, France.
2014 (April): Artexpo New York, Contemporary Art, Artifact Gallery, New York, U.S.A..
2014 (March-April): Con i fiordi negli occhi. Hommage au cri de Munch, Contemporary Art, Museum of the Sea, Genoa, Italy.
2014 (January): Rome Biennale, Contemporary Art, Sale del Bramante, Rome, Italy.
2014 (January): Premio Michelangelo, Contemporary Art, Gadarte Gallery, Florence, Italy.
2013 (November): Rome Biennale 2014 Selection, Contemporary Art, Galerie Il Collezionista, Rome, Italy.
2013 (November): Les Hivernales, Contemporary Art, Palais des Congrès, Montreuil, France.
2013 (October): Nel Segno della figurazione, Contemporary Art, Galerie IL TEMPIO, Palermo, Italy.
2013 (August): VACANZE ROMANE, Contemporary Art, Coronari111 Art Gallery, Rome, Italy.
2013 (July): LOOK AT ME, Contemporary Art, Coronari111 Art Gallery, Rome, Italy.
2013 (January): 1st Biennale of Contemporary Art of Palermo, Contemporary Art, EA EDITORE, Palermo, Italy.

CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWS AND BOOKS

2016:
- Catalog of the 1st International Leonardo da Vinci Award, organized by Salvatore Russo and Francesco-Saverio Russo - January 29, 2016, Florence.
- Art International Contemporary Magazine, directed by Salvatore Russo - Jan/Feb.
2015:
- Monograph 2015 Progetto arte created by art critic Alessandro Costanza.
2014:
- EFFETTO ARTE Portrait for great Arts masters September/October 2014 issue: Art review directed by Italian art critic Paolo Levi.
- Protagonisti dell'arte: Art Book from the 19th Century to the present day. June 2014 - A Editore-Palermo.
- Artisti Internazionali all'Artexpo di New York: Contemporary art catalog - Artexpo New York - April 2014.
- The New Collector Book 2014 by Tchera Niyego and Basak Malone-USA.
2013:
- OVER ART magazine Premio Michelangelo September/October 2013 issue: Contemporary art review.
- EFFETTO ARTE Nello segno della figurazione September/October 2013 issue: Art review directed by Italian art critic Paolo Levi.
- I SEGNALATI, international contemporary art catalog by Salvatore Russo, May 2013. A Editore-Palermo.
2012:
- Le Contre-Annuaire Volume1 - 11-13 Editions, Paris.

ARTIST BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

2016: "Parenthèse - Éclairage sur une folie ordinaire": Short story published by Éditions l'Harmattan, Paris.
2015: "À la volée": Collection of short texts published by Éditions l'ATRT, Paris.
2014: "Portraits croisés" Éclats de lire Collection - ATRT-Paris writing workshop (Texts and paintings) - Éditions l'ATRT, Paris.
2006: "Dialogue avec la modèle" (Pastels and texts) - Artist's book.
2005: "Interrogations et ruptures" (Pastels and texts) - Artist's book.

TRAINING AND WORKSHOPS

2020: Painting course, life model portrait, at the Terre et Feu workshop in Paris.
2016-2017: Life drawing course - Miroiterie workshops - Paris with Jean Claude Athan.
2006-2015: Writing workshop with Christine Tristan at ATRT - Paris 13.
2010-2011: Yves Devaux-Veeska Workshop.
2008: Life drawing course - Miroiterie workshops Paris with Jean Claude Athan;
- Yves Devaux-Veeska Workshop, creator of the "Peindre en liberté" foundation.
1997-1998: Life drawing course - N. Poussin workshops - Paris with Jean Claude Athané, former student of Zadkine.

FULL CRITICAL TEXTS

Martine Bouchard-Chroniquart (Québec) - 2022:

"Sylvie Poinsot's work testifies to the strength and accomplice exuberance between her artist's soul and the gestures of her own liberation. Her lyrical flights are more permeable than in the past and solidly consolidate the long journey towards her personal harmonies. The maturity of her works speaks for itself. They impact and explode, but they also subtly suggest entirely new moments of softness. Sylvie Poinsot's artistic quest, undertaken for many years, has become a fortress, solidly anchored in her storms. Black and white paintings bring a new, revalued expressionist light, compared to the chromatic excess of her previous work. The gray palette reveals quieter, more subterranean feelings; extremely unsettling, like deeply buried roots suddenly exposed to view, through the native soil of her thoughts. It is a marvel. A calm, quite surprising in this creator with such fiery emotions. And which contrasts with the explosive works that have made us pulsate since the very beginning of her career. The artist has not finished telling her story and surprising us... For there is no doubt: the tone is set for the pursuit of an intangible expressionism, on the part of this adventurer of the inexhaustible. The intoxication of being, and of creating infinitely... In short, simply living. The only way to elevate and vibrate that this complete woman, extremely gifted for the absolute, knows and recognizes. With conviction and tenacity."

ssa Oxana Albot, Prix Montecarlo - September 2019:

"L'artista ci da il compito di indagare su profili semivisibili rintracciabili nel diaframma che separa l'astratto dal raffigurativo. Non è mera riduzione a un messaggio il suo compito; la trasmissione di un gesto eloquente: sormontate le apparenze e l'eco dell'illusione e andate a trovare la vostra verità. Faccia a faccia con l'opera scopriamo che l'arte di Sylvie Poinsot e Bellezza Pura sono omonimi."

A. EDITORE - Biennale des Nations - March 16 to 19, 2018 - Venice:

"To the Wise interpretation of art, your creativity, a perfect combination of harmony and light, your ability to capture the sensitivity of the soul."

Sandro Serradifalco - September 2014:

"The dynamic background made of a mix of soft colors, contrasts with the chromatic choice used for the face of the subject; a painting full of meaning, a painting that wants to shout out something through the expression in stops and starts sad and lost and in stops and starts euphoric and galvanized. An informal atwork characterized by the unique touch of the artist."

Paolo Levi - Italian art critic - August 2014:

"Un'opera inquietante, che si collega alla pittura espressionista del novecento tedesco, in particolare a quella di Emile Nolde. Ma questa pittrice va oltre, rivelando una vena poetica che si esalta nei forti contrasti segnici e cromatici."

Salvatore Russo Italian art critic - April 2014:

"Sylvie Poinsot elabora una pittura molto espressiva. Negli occhi dei personaggi ritratti si puo leggere tutto chio che hanno nell'anima. Un'anima colorata. Un'anima alla ricerca della felicità perduta. Il suo agire cromatico la rende la pittrice della luce. Una luce che sovrasta le tenebre e si fa portavoce di sentimenti reali. Una segnica non legata all'iperrealismo bensì alla comunicazione che decodifica in maniera corretta l'agire umano. Sylvie Poinsot Works on a really expressive painting. In portrayed characters eyes we can read their souls. A colored soul. A soul in search of the lost happiness. The colors she uses gave her the nickname of the painter of the light. A light that dominates the darkness becoming the mouthpiece of real feelings. A language that is not linked to hyperrealism but to the communication that explains the human actions."

Adelinda Allegretti - March 2014:

"Prima di arrivare al giro di boa della mostra, dove il dramma lentamente si stempera giungendo persino a strappare al visitatore qualche sorriso, va citata l'opera di Sylvie Poinsot, Sans titre (2011). Un volto che sembra liquefarsi sotto il peso dell'esistenza, la bocca trasformata in una smorfia. Solo gli occhi mantengono una fredda lucidità. È il ritratto della consapevolezza della drammaticità della vita umana. Before reaching the exhibitions turning point, where drama slowly tones down, winning a few smiles out of the visitor, one need to mention Sylvie Poinsots Sans titre (Untitled, 2011). Here is a face that appears to melt under the weight of existence, the mouth reduced to a grimace. Only the eyes maintain a cold lucidity. This is the portrait of the awareness of the drama of human existence."

Salvatore Russo - Italian art critic - May 2013:

"Volti che diventano la più fedele testimonianza dei pensieri dell'essere umano. Volti che confessano le loro verità. Volti che hanno la stessa forza evocativa dell'urlo di Munch. Volti che vengono dipinti dall'abile mano dell'artista Sylvie Poinsot. L'artista nelle sue opere pone grande attenzione alla mimica facciale delle sue figure. Mimica che è l'espressione di ciò che in quel momento la figura rappresentata pensa. Sentimenti ed emozioni. Il volto diventa una sorta di diario autobiografico sul quale scrivere i propri stati d'animo. La tecnica utilizzata è molto singolare. Non vi è iperrealismo e le figure hanno contorni labili e appositamente non definiti, per dare maggiore importanza al concetto stesso che vogliono esprimere. La cromia in tutte le opere è decisamente straordinaria, andando oltre il comune vedere delle cose."

Martine Bouchard-Chroniquart (Québec) - 2012:

"Sylvie Poinsot is an expressionist artist of the new generation. In complete freedom, she expresses herself through painting, ink on paper, and dry pastel. The only laws the artist obeys are those of spontaneity and the absolute in the creative process. The artist paints characters, alone on stage, highlighted under the spotlight of her mind, enhanced by a wide palette of vibrant colors and contrasts. With complete simplicity, the artist reveals herself simultaneously with her subjects. Her works are composed with many gestures and broad, energetic impulses. Bold and opaque colors oppose and superimpose, in an intoxicating and obsessive chromatic fresco. Art without compromise, an absolutist and whole nature. The artist's pastels provide fewer details than her acrylics. From a few lines, the artist draws maximum intensity and luminosity about her subjects. Characters with gazes loaded with her own emotions and inner worlds. A production of powerful and unique works of its kind. Beautiful canvases to discover and to make known. Art that is simple and complex, all at once. Sylvie Poinsot, a name to remember."