The artist
Xavier de Richemont is a French video painter born in 1959 in Algeria. He lives and works in Angers, France. He studied painting at the National School of Fine Arts in Aix-en-Provence, France. He has worked worldwide for opera and dance, collaborating with visual artists such as Robert (Bob) Wilson, David Salle, and Andy de Groat.
For the past 25 years, Xavier de Richemont has been creating monumental works of art around the world. In 2002, he created the first Festival of Lights in Chartres, France, called “Chartres en Lumières,” where he served as the sole artist and artistic director for 10 years. In 2010, he was invited by the Mexican government to commemorate the bicentennial of Independence and the centennial of the Mexican Revolution in seven emblematic cities of the country.
In 2012, he inaugurated the Grand Museum of the Maya World in Merida, Mexico, with “Yuca’ma’yab,” a seminal work on the Mayan civilization. In 2014, he installed a major work on American soil, presenting “San Antonio – The Saga,” a grand masterpiece created for the oldest Catholic cathedral in the USA, located in San Antonio, Texas. In 2015, he designed a monumental video fresco for the King of Morocco in Marrakech. He has participated in numerous Contemporary Video Art events in the United States, Canada, and Germany, including the European Capitals of Culture (Ruhr Gebiet 2010). His trilogy (2016-2018) on Joan of Arc for the city of Orleans has received widespread acclaim. In 2017, the French Embassy in India commissioned him to create a monumental work for the Amber Fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan. In 2018 and 2019, he created a piece on the collections of the Château d’Ecouen for the National Museum of the Renaissance, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture.
He conceived a colossal work on the history of the textile mills in the city of Roubaix, France, for the European Heritage Days in 2018 and from 2019 to 2023. In 2019, he was approached by the Grand Hôtel Martinez in Cannes to celebrate its 90th anniversary, and in 2023, he created “La Maison des Mondes” in Rochefort on the occasion of the centenary of Pierre Loti. He is also preparing an innovative work in the Northern Andes of Peru for 2023.
Xavier de Richemont is involved in major projects in France, the United States, and Mexico, where his works have been permanently exhibited for over a decade.
His work is driven by a profound sense of purpose. The artist conducts extensive on-site research to inform his projects, and this research influences the graphic design of his visually rich compositions. His highly distinctive style, characterized by lyrical lines and tremors, explores the slow movements, abundant materials, vibrating shapes, lines, and colors, merging abstraction with figures, narration, and music. This work is composed and projected in video format. Xavier de Richemont’s quest for new forms of expression through contemporary means, his experience in the performing arts, and his temperament as a painter have made him one of the most sought-after French video artists in the world.
