About
Maxime Ansiau is a French artist living in the Netherlands, who has spent the past 25 years searching for items, gathering materials into collections, that over time, hold significant meaning until they become a new work. The primary relationship of collecting, housing, and thinking about items can last from two to ten years until the problem posed in storing them, requires a conceptualised solution for their repurpose.
I always start with a collection of something. It could be a plastic toy, a sticker, a pile of books or an old sink. Then once you have a pile of things you have a problem on your hands because you have to make something out of it.
In the secondary phase, when the problem transforms into a solution, he applies the most traditional themes that artistry has to offer, from cave paintings to pop art; portraiture, still life, landscape, religious and pastoral themes, to create a repurposed interpretation of a classic subject matter. His work is process-driven, time-consuming and requires painstaking patience to create a modernised version of past values that uphold etiquette and respect for materials, that he believes are not represented with the same depth in the digital world.
For a material-based artist, the physical realm is always at the forefront. His work poses the question of the consequences that human production and consumption have created. Through his work, he has built a world in which he can continue to embrace the value of the human touch. His series ‘Postcards to Patrick Caulfield’ is a homage to encapsulated energy within the handwritten word, that is received in wonder by another. His Collection ‘Canopy’ began with a discarded plastic tree that he sourced in mass production from China to highlight the plight of the natural world, which is at the mercy of momentary consumer pleasure.
His work is a process that helps him make sense of the world in shape and form and each work can be both a comfort, representing an era of simplicity or a question to remind us of the cost of our actions.
Born in 1972, Paris, France.
Lives and works in Rotterdam, Netherlands
EXHIBITIONS AND COMMISSIONs
2023
« See / Fly / Buy » with KLM. Westerkade, Rotterdam, September 2023
« Third Tones » 52 Rue Charlot, Paris June 2023
2020
« Optical Wanders » 78 Rue de Turrenne, Paris (FR)
« Optical Wanders » Contour Gallery, Rotterdam (NL)
« Art Rotterdam », Copperfield Gallery, Drink Cabinet & Mobile Bar, Van Nelle Fabriek, Rotterdam (NL)
2019
« Parcours Saint-Germain », La Fleur de l’Art, Paris (FR)
« Diversions Botaniques », Espace Froissart, Paris (FR)
2018
« Botanical Diversions », At Jules Deelders former home, Rotterdam (NL)
2017
« Harvest », Academy Gallery Utrecht (NL)
« Floral Matter », Concordia Collection Rotterdam (NL)
« Culinary Themed Works », Evermore Rotterdam (NL)
2015
« Crystal Clear », Maison & Objet, The Precious Exhibition,
a selection curated by Elisabeth Leriche, Paris (FR).
«Au Grès du Bleu » Musée Alsacien de la Ville de Strasbourg,
Rhénanie Collective, Strasbourg (FR).
2014
« Crystal Clear » Art Paris – GRAND PALAIS, Gallery Vanessa Quang, Paris (FR).
« Crystal Clear », ObjectRotterdam, Rotterdam Design Fair, Laive Agency (NL).
« Crystal Clear » Maison & Objet, Antique Mirrors, Singapore (SGP).
2013
« Multi Dish », Guest artist of Seletti, Maison & Objet, Paris (FR).
2012
« Ursus Maritimus » Art Paris – GRAND PALAIS, Gallery Vanessa Quang, Paris (FR).
« Multi Dish », Seletti, Macef, New York (USA).
« Multi Dish » Seletti, Maison & Objet, Paris (FR).
« Mobile Kitchens » The Inside Design Show, Sandberg Institute,
curated by Elle Decoration NL, Amsterdam (NL).
« Growth Rings », ART Rotterdam, The Rotterdam Art Fair, Galerie Iris Cornelis (NL).
« Multi Dish » Spazio Pontaccio, Milan (IT).
2011
Production & Distribution of Multidish by Seletti (Worldwide).
« Found Footage », solo show exhibition, Galerie Iris Cornelis (NL).
2008
« Multi Dish » Breekbaar Ideen - Centre Ceramique, Maastricht (NL).
2007
« Found Footage », solo show exhibition, Museum Het Catharina Gasthuis, Gouda (NL).
« Multi Dish », Artist in Residence , EKWC (European Ceramic Work Centre), Hertogenbosch (NL).
2006
« Mobile Kitchens & Floor Panels », Bocht Amsterdam, Free Forgivers from Holland,
with Artus Gallery, Budapest (HUN).
« Mobile Kitchens », Vases, The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts,
Design and Architecture, Amsterdam (NL).
« Mobile Kitchens & Floor Panels », L’Appartemento, Gallery Antonia Janone, Milan (IT).
« Floor Panels » Lost and Found, Architecture Institute, Haarlem (NL).
« Mobile Kitchens », Gemini Muse, Young Artists in European Museums,
Teatro Litta, Milan (IT).
2005
« Mobile Kitchens », « Floor Panels », The Past Feeds the Future,
10 Years Sandberg Institute - Museum Amstelkring, Amsterdam (NL).
« The White Kitchen », Museum Het Catharina Gasthuis, Gouda (NL).
« Mobile Kitchens », « Floor Panels », Gallery Binnen, Amsterdam (NL).
« Mobile Kitchens », « Floor Panels », Nest Exhibition, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (NL).
2004
« Tyre Baskets », Tendance/Lifestyle, Frankfurt Messe, Frankfurt (GER).
2003
« Mobiele keuken », Parasite Paradise - Utrecht (NL).
« Conversation of Objects », « Silicon Tube Lights »,
solo show exhibition Artoteek Oost, Amsterdam (NL).
« Mobiele keuken », Design Week - Design Academy, Eindhoven (NL).
« Mobiele keuken », Frozen Fountain - Amsterdam (NL).
2001
« Recycled Restaurant », Waterproof, Fort Asperen, Leerdam (NL) .
« Opening of Incidental », Polderweg Studio, Amsterdam (NL).
2000
« Opening of Recycled Restaurant », The Kunstvlaai 4 Exhibition,
Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam (NL).
Teaching Posts
Utrecht Art Academy - Utrecht (NL) : Product Design
Sandberg Institute - Amsterdam (NL) : Post Graduate Master of Fine Arts
Maastricht Art Academy - Maastricht (NL) Product Design
ESAD (Ecole Supérieure d’Art et de Design) Amiens (FR)
EDUCATION
1998 - 2000
Post graduate course - Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam (NL)
Free design
1994 - 1997
BA Honours Degree - University of Brighton (UK)
Wood Metal Ceramic Plastic
1993 - 1994
Foundation Course, Brighton College of Technology (UK)
Art and Design
atelier image @jamesrobinson
