The Sculpture Trail benefits from the generous support of the City of Luxembourg.
Jean-Pierre Formica
Vitae (Mémorées series), 2024 Ceramic, 200 x 40 (diamètre) cm
Presented by Galerie Regala
Location
Pl. de Metz, L-1930 Luxembourg
Art Walk Challenge
This sculpture, from the Mémorées series created for the Panta Rhei exhibition at the Alyscamps in Arles, is part of Jean-Pierre Formica’s research into contemporary archaeology. Made of glazed earthenware, it seems to crystallize time — a buried memory rising back to the surface. Formica works clay like an archaeologist excavates the earth: he reveals rather than shapes. His figures bear the sediment of the world, its fractures and forgotten layers. The artist blends myth and memory, matter and light, tracing the fragility of presence and the persistence of the past. This mineral body, both ancient and imagined, becomes a poetic witness — a relic of a world that has disappeared, yet strangely.
Jean-Pierre Formica (b. 1946 Uchaud) livesbetween Arles and Paris. A graduate of the Écoles des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Montpellier, and Nîmes, he has drawn since the 1970s on Mediterranean culture, mythology, and memory. His work explores traces, imprints, and sedimentation through painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics. Primarily a painter, he began in 2000 to develop a sculptural practice shaped by imprints, terracotta, bronze, and salt — creating hybrid, archaeological forms. His papiers révélés (revealed papers) combine incision, color, and memory, crossing the boundaries of painting, engraving, and sculpture. Several books on his work have been published by Actes Sud. In 2025, he is the guest of honor at the Alyscamps in Arles with Panta Rhei, an open-air exhibition of monumental ceramics celebrating the impermanence of life. On this occasion, a new book will be published by Actes Sud in partnership with Galerie Regala.
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