Exhibition “Of the Wind”

A Nara Roesler Sao Paulo is pleased to present From the Wind, solo exhibition by the French artist Xavier Veilhan, with works conceived through his Transatlantic Studio – a project in which the artist transfers his studio to a sailboat, offering an alternative to air transport for the transportation of works of art.

Aboard the Outremer 5X catamaran – a wind-powered vessel made with 50% flax fiber – Veilhan, his team, and his artworks will cross the Atlantic Ocean, departing from Concarneau, Brittany, France, and arriving at the port of Santos, Brazil. The artist will develop some of the works during the voyage and complete them in São Paulo, where they will be presented to the public at the Nara Roesler São Paulo exhibition from November 8, 2025, to January 31, 2026. “I want to further develop this initiative of a floating studio and wind-powered transport for some of my upcoming exhibitions. The goal is to create new imaginaries and offer an alternative to the pressures and frenetic pace of the art world: international fairs and exhibitions consume enormous amounts of energy and prioritize speed,” explains the artist. “The sector needs to adapt to ecological challenges, but it has difficulty doing so while maintaining competitiveness. This project is an experiment, an attempt – which has value as a work of art in itself,” he adds. For this expedition, the artist will be accompanied by Roland Jourdain, award-winning sailor and co-founder of Fondation Explore; Denis Juhel, assistant captain; Matthias Colin, oceanographer, who will be on board for research purposes; Antoine Veilhan, the artist's son, specializing in carpentry and nautical joinery; and Carmen Panfiloff, assistant sculptor and joiner.

The Fondation Explore and the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris are partners in this voyage and will use the crossing for scientific research. Plankton samples will be collected along the route and transmitted via satellite to feed scientific databases. On board, a hydrofoil equipped with a hydrophone will record underwater life, in order to understand and preserve it.

The intention is for Veilhan to work as he does in his studio in France. The boat is not just a means of transport, but a moving studio. To produce sculptures on board, the team will bring woodworking equipment from France, designed by Antoine and built to operate without electricity, such as a pedal-operated band saw.

Em From the windXavier Veilhan revisits a central concern in his practice: the relationship between the second and third dimensions. For the artist, every sculpture begins as a line, and it is through its accumulation and succession that volume emerges. This articulation between the graphic and the spatial reflects the passage from image to reality. A linear rhythm unfolds throughout the exhibition: in wall drawings, mobiles, and sculptures, in which layers of assembled plywood suggest both structure and fluidity.

Evoking the constant line of the horizon and the moving coordinates of the nautical charts that gave rise to the exhibition, these forms translate Veilhan's transatlantic crossing into a spatial design where orientation and movement coexist.

The exhibition will also include a video, made during the trip, that intertwines elements of fiction and documentary. As Veilhan notes, the project is “a celebration of all that is alive, a celebration of nature.”

The idea is that the exhibition at Nara Roesler São Paulo will be the first of a new model for the creation and transportation of artworks conceived by the artist, incorporating sustainability and also the creative process in a way that more emphatically reflects his poetics. In this way, the intention is, through future partnerships within and outside of France, to expand this format, bringing new arrangements, materials, and discussions to it.

Service
Exhibition | Of the Wind
From November 8th to December 20th
Monday to Friday, from 10 am to 18 pm, Saturday from 11 am to 15 pm