Fondation Cartier Presents '...de la vallée', a Solo Exhibition by Fabrice Hyber

From April 2 to June 29, 2025, the Power Station of Art, in collaboration with the Fondation Cartier, will present '...de la vallée', a solo exhibition by French artist Fabrice Hyber. Building on his 2022 showcase at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, this exhibition brings together over 70 key works spanning more than three decades, alongside 20 new pieces created specifically for Shanghai.

Since its founding in 1984, the Fondation Cartier has been dedicated to fostering contemporary art on a global scale. As a multidisciplinary platform, it extends beyond visual arts to engage with architecture, design, fashion, philosophy, and science. This latest collaboration with Fabrice Hyber continues their long-term partnership, transporting the creative essence of his homeland in western France to Shanghai.

A visionary artist, Fabrice Hyber moves fluidly between disciplines, weaving together painting, performance, installation, and even entrepreneurial projects. His work blurs boundaries, drawing on mathematics, neuroscience, forestry, history, astrophysics, and themes of love, the human body, and evolution. Since the 1990s, he has transformed his hometown in Vendée, France, by planting 300,000 seeds of diverse tree species around his family’s former sheep farm. This evolving forest has become the heart of his artistic exploration. As he describes, “I plant trees as I plant symbols and images... I scatter seeds of thought that take root and grow—I am no longer in control.” Growth, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas lie at the core of From the Valley.

One of the exhibition’s defining features is how Hyber translates his “valley” into a physical space. Upon entering, visitors find themselves in a symbolic forest: at its center stands Ted Hyber, a towering green inflatable sculpture representing a metamorphosis of the artist’s own image. The natural cracks in the floors of the Power Station of Art become extensions of his paintings, creating organic pathways that branch outward like growing thoughts.

Ted Hyber amid the forest

For Hyber, painting is a space for experimentation—a way to test ideas, invent new forms, and push the boundaries of knowledge. This exhibition debuts a collection of porcelain paintings crafted in Jingdezhen, China’s porcelain capital, revealing his approach to integrating traditional craftsmanship into his artistic vocabulary. Meanwhile, 36 paintings and a selection of porcelain works are mounted on wheeled stands, reminiscent of classroom blackboards, inviting visitors to navigate the space as though exploring an unconventional school of thought.

More than just an exhibition, From the Valley embodies Hyber’s vision of an alternative learning space. Through paintings, short films, and interactive installations, he guides visitors through an evolving dialogue of ideas. The exhibition also features a series of talks by experts—including philosophers, architects, neuroscientists, and ecologists—who will expand on the themes explored in his work, offering diverse perspectives and fostering deeper engagement.

With From the Valley, Hyber not only brings his world to Shanghai but also takes back the knowledge and encounters from this exchange. His work thrives in the movement between cultures and landscapes, and visitors, in turn, become part of this ongoing creative journey.