Patrick Carpentier
24.10.2025
At Claroscuro we begin our new section on contemporary design with the work of Patrick Carpentier, a Brussels-based artist whose practice moves between sculpture, photography, installation and curatorial projects. In his hands simple forms become carriers of meaning, shaped by tension, balance and material presence.
A Poetic Landscape of Form and Language
Carpentier’s work often explores opposites: presence and absence, form and void, sign and silence. He describes his approach as creating “simple stories centred on the observation of language by ways of antinomy.” Through his practice he shows how a shift in form or scale can transform the familiar into something quietly unexpected. He is also cofounder of Maison Commun, a platform that invites artists and designers to transform everyday shapes into wearable or sculptural jewlery.
Beyond his own production he has contributed to Brussels’s cultural life by establishing the gallery-space C5 (CCINQ), which offered a programme of experimental exhibitions. His activity as an organiser and curator is part of the same impulse: to create settings in which objects and ideas enter into dialogue.
Clay, Earth and the Fragility of Sculpture
Ceramics have become an important part of Carpentier’s practice. In his 2019 exhibition A Short-Term Effect, an Echo at MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch in Brussels he presented a series of ceramic sculptures arranged on pedestals of different heights. These works ranged from large monolithic pieces to smaller stacked forms. He approached clay not as a medium for function but as material for sculptural meditation, focusing on weight, texture and balance.
Some of the pieces were left unglazed, revealing the raw texture of the clay. Others carried muted surfaces in tonal colours that recall the stillness of Morandi. The finishes are subtle, allowing the surface to breathe rather than conceal. Stacking and verticality appear throughout, suggesting fragile towers that carry both architectural rhythm and a sense of risk.
Bringing His Ceramics into Claroscuro
The ceramic pieces we will present are shaped by this same sensibility. They are not decorative in the usual sense but carry the intimacy of sculpture. Surfaces may be raw or softly glazed, forms may be stacked or modular, and each piece carries its own weight and presence. They invite slow attention, asking to be read as much as used or displayed.
Patrick Carpentier’s ceramics offer an encounter with material and form at their most essential. They are objects that resist haste, that invite reflection, and that show how clay, in its fragility and strength, can embody a language of its own.
At Claroscuro we are proud to present these works, part of a continuing series that introduces contemporary artists and designers whose practice enriches interiors with authenticity and depth.