The exhibition "Enchantment" brings together two signature themes —the beads and the bricks by artist Jean-Michel Othoniel in one coherent body of work spanning from 2012 to the present. They are geometrical abstractions at the same time luminous and colorful objects delightful and luxurious to behold. Whether as a postmodern parody of utopian idealism or a contemporary tribute to ancient traditions, Othoniel leaves the interpretation open.

Othoniel's artworks, exquisitely handcrafted by skilled artisans from Italy and India and later assembled with the help of engineers in his Paris studio, follow the discipline of modern abstraction with rigorous and highly consistent formal development. The material is glass, the bricks in stacks are each slightly modified in shape to create a ripple effect in the eyes of the viewer, emitting a sombre and mysterious aura. They appear unreal to the eye, more precisely as though low resolution digital objects from the virtual world had been brought to life. The glass beads, monumental in scale, are "strung" into loops—too large be worn yet the forms still evoke the curve of the invisible neck; the more complex mathematical forms simulate embrace and kiss of bodies, the unfolding sequence of a flower, the contortion of dancing movement in time. Upon closer examination, each bead is subtly distorted, baroque in form, its unique shape bearing the imprint of the glassblower's breath and touch. 

These luminous works imbue the Brutalist architecture of the Long Art Museum with an ethereal glow. The light that the artworks emit is a cool illumination, reminiscent of nocturnal visions. With a subtle shift in meaning, by bringing light into the museum, the artist is, in fact, bringing night into the museum—transforming day into night and inviting viewers to revel in its enigmatic wonders.

About the artist

Jean-Michel Othoniel was born in 1964 in Saint-Étienne, France; now lives and works in Paris, France.

Jean-Michel Othoniel's enchanting aesthetics revolves around the notion of emotional geometry. Through the repetition of modular elements such as bricks or his signature beads, he creates exquisite jewelry-like sculptures whose relationship to the human scale ranges from intimacy to monumentality. His predilection for materials with reversible and often reflective properties—particularly blown glass, which has been the hallmark of his practice since the early 1990s—relates to the deeply equivocal nature of his art. Monumental yet delicate, baroque yet minimal, poetic yet political, his contemplative forms, like oxymorons, have the power to reconcile opposites. While his dedication to site-specific commissions for public spaces has led some of his work to take an architectural and social turn, Othoniel’s holistic sensibility compares to fêng shui, or the art of harmonizing people with their environment, allowing viewers to inhabit his world through reflection and motion.

Jean-Michel Othoniel graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Cergy-Pontoise in 1986. His international trajectory began to crystallize in 1992 with his participation in Documenta 9 in Kassel, followed by a transformative residency at the Villa Medici, French Academy in Rome in 1995. Jean-Michel Othoniel's work was the subject of numerous international institution exhibitions, including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice(1997), the Fondation Cartier for Contemporary Art in Paris(2003), and Petit Palais in Paris(2021).  In 2011, his first retrospective, My Way, was shown at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which later traveled to Seoul, Tokyo, Macao, and New York; 2025 will see OTHONIEL COSMOS ou les Fantômes de l’Amour unfold across the Palais des Papes and nine museums in Avignon. Jean-Michel Othoniel has also commissioned many public installations, including the Kiosque des Noctambules in Paris(2000) and the Fountain Les Belles Danses in the Water Theater Grove at Versailles (2015).