Régis-R

Régis-R, “the landscape architect of plastic”
Young Régis-R first came to the public’s attention in 2000 at the Paris Furniture Show. A total fan of plastic, he was exhibiting objects of all kinds next to posh looking-alike sofas. The material was always recycled plastic to which he was giving new life by transforming it into luminaries, stools, curtains, tables and chairs, etc. His fetish was the Bobidon, a small empty jerrycan turned table lamp (‘Bobidon’ is a porte-manteau name – where ‘Bo’ is a misspelling of ‘Beau’ – meaning fine jerrycan).
That is how this graduate from the Paris School of Decorative Arts endorsed the responsibility to fight against wastage. Maybe because he was born right when the oil crisis hit, in 1973, a bleak year for all the by-products of black gold!

Régis-R pours his inventions into the mould of humour. His works of art are called Bassinos, Insectes, On a marché sur Mars (“Basins”, “Insects”, “We walked on Mars”, respectively), in order to change the public’s perception of everyday utensils. He sculpts chandeliers as big as those of Versailles and converts them into an “Arte Povera Pop” version. He removes the front part of bath tubs to transform them into Empire style sofas. Régis-R quotes Roland Barthes: “More than a substance, plastic is the very idea of its infinite transformation.”
Naming Régis-R “the jerrycan recycler” or “the jack-of-all-trades” would be too restrictive a definition. According to the Artist, the recycling of waste is above all ethical for it symbolizes the respect we owe to the work of Man, to the Planet, to Mankind. But his approach goes further. The “ex-tinker” has come of (plastic) age. Régis-R is “Prince of Plastique”. He assumes his plastician approach.

In his workshop/warehouse in Aubervilliers, jerrycans, bottles and toys are gathered together, sorted by shape and classified by colour. His spontaneity and his instinct guide him. He assembles, cuts, pierces and sometimes melts the plastic to transform it in more and more imposing and ambitious sculptures. Always hyper-coloured. Like his gigantic 10 meter long installation ARTuro, which enthralled the visitors of the “Centre Pompidou” and of “SLICK” in 2008, and of the French Cultural Centre of Milan and of the “Galerie W” in 2009.
Régis-R takes us along into his stunning creation. By resurrecting our unwanted objects, he brings back meaning to our lives that have become commodities. In a fierce and radical way, “Prince of Plastique” underlines the thoughtlessness of the “over consumption society”.

From a press article by Anne-Marie Fèvre published in the French newspaper Libération.

1973. I was born right during the oil crisis.

1976-1980. I was spending much time playing Lego and Playmobil amongst plastic furniture.

1982. My parents offered me a pocket-knife with which I was doing DIY to create toys with the wood I had found while strolling.

1987. First creation of a bedside lamp with a bottle of Coke.

1990. I passed my scientific Baccalauréat (High School Graduation in Science).

1991-1993. I studied architecture at the Bordeaux School of Architecture. I became a DEFA graduate. In the meantime I was going to the University of Bordeaux to get a DEUG (an Associate’s Degree) in Fine Arts. That is when I created my first items out of recycled objects.

1994. I entered the Paris School of Decorative Arts (the ENSAD). That is where I continued my research, and plastic became my favourite material.

1998. I got my degree from the ENSAD. The famous French trademark Ligne Roset noticed a prototype and produced it.

1999. I settled in Montreuil, in a workshop. I fell in love with electro music and drums, Vespas, travels (NY, Berlin, London, Buenos Aires, Thailand, Dakar…).

Exhibitions, installations
2009. « Piuttosto Crepare », Centre Culturel Français de Milan

2008. SLICK08 au 104, Paris, France

2007. Expose en permanence à la Galerie W, Paris, France

2006. « Christmas windows » for the Laser Company, Paris, France

« Plastic City III », Centre G.Pompidou , Paris, France
Chandeliers and wall drawings, Lan’s restaurant in Beijing and Volar Club in Shanghaï, two places designed by Philippe Starck
« A poil rideau ! » Installation pour le restaurant La Maison Rouge, Paris

2005. « Plastic City II », Galerie Peyroulet et Cie, Paris, France « Plastic City I », Passagen, Cologne, Germany
« Families », light installation, Great Eastern Hotel, London « Vespa Vs Car », light installation, Umbaba Club, London

2004. « Sol/Saule/Sol », Galerie Elaïs, Paris, France « Zen, Chez Samy Chalon, Paris, France

2003. Scénograhie de concert pour Youssou'n'dour et Salif Keita

2002. « Pop Radioactivity », Le Bihan, Paris, France
Installation « Télévisator », Superflux, Lyon
Installation géante de mobiles, passage du Grand Cerf

2001. « At SissyBoy », Holland

2000. « Plastico-Peintures », Heart Galerie, Paris, France

1999. « Plasticoluz », Galerie Roger Tator, Lyon, France « Les Regis », Galerie Inside Modern Living, Toronto, Canada
« Bobidon », Lamp creation for Cinna

Collective exhibitions
2007. 100% Récup, Espace d’art contemporain d’Aulnay sous Bois

2006. « Hotel Paradisio », Galerie Fluxnews, Liège

2005. Collectif RPPL Gardair, Off de la FIAC, Hotel Lutétia, Paris

Exposition à la Fondation Florence, Espace Commines, Paris, France
« Big Audio Light », « Faites de la Lumière », Paris, France
« Epouvant’aïe », Château de Beauregard, France Galerie Peyroulet et Cie, Paris, France « Hier Aujourd’hui Demain », Galerie Via, Paris, France « I Still Believe In Miracles », Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris « Tape Car », sound system car showed during the Technoparade

2004. « Récup’art », Espace des Blancs Manteaux, Paris, France

2003. « Superflux », Galerie Roger Tator, Lyon, France Galerie 3A, Paris, France Galerie CSAO - Paris

2002. « Influx », Galerie Roger Tator, Lyon, France Biennale Internationale de St. Etienne, St. Etienne, France

2001. Biennale de Design de Jardin, Château de Barbirey, Dijon, France

2000. Ogier Gallery, London, Grande Bretagne
Salon du Meuble de Paris

1999. Galerie Pascal Van Hoecke, Cachan, France
Salon du Meuble de Paris

1998. « Sous Les Pavés La Plage », Base sous-marine, Bordeaux, France Galerie Tonio de Roover, Rotterdam, Hollande Braderie de l’Art, Roubaix, France
Grand marché d'art contemporain - Paris

1997. Braderie de l’Art, Roubaix, France Exposition de l’ENSAD, Espace Carole de Bona, Paris, France

W picked out for you some press articles (in French):

0909 - RÉGIS-R - ELLE

0905 - RÉGIS-R - J'ai flané pour vous

0905 - RÉGIS-R - www.decoeco.fr

09 - RÉGIS-R - www.culturemilan.fr

0812 - RÉGIS-R - Libération

0908 - RÉGIS-R - www.foutraque.com

0806 - RÉGIS-R - Street - Culture

0512 - RÉGIS-R - Libération

0505 - RÉGIS-R - Marie-Claire

RÉGIS-R - www.icartparis.com