Nicolas Grospierre
Nicolas Grospierre (born 1975 in Geneva)
Educated in Paris and London, Nicolas Grospierre has been a resident of Poland since 1999. As a photographer, he is celebrated for his impeccably precise documentation of reality. Early in his career, Grospierre focused on capturing distinct communities, such as Warsaw’s Kamionek and Kraków’s Podgórze. However, he is predominantly recognised for his photographic studies of modernist architecture, which he portrays as vestiges of collective memory from the recent past. His documentary work frequently explores themes of collective memory, while his conceptual projects craft scenarios that captivate viewers with their visually appealing and almost sensual imagery and installations. Grospierre has a keen interest in natural materials, often featuring rocks and their cross-sections. He creates sculptural objects from glass, which allow viewers to see multiplied photographs through a kaleidoscopic effect. Currently, he is engaged with heliography, an early photographic technique developed in the 1820s. This method involves creating unique, non-reproducible images by exposing direct sunlight onto a substrate, in this instance, velvet. His photographic works have been published in volumes such as “Modern Forms: A Subjective Atlas of 20th Century Architecture” (2016) and “Modern Spaces: A Subjective Atlas of 20th Century Interiors” (2018).
In 2008, Grospierre was awarded the Golden Lion at the 11th Venice Biennale of Architecture, an accolade he shared with Kobas Laksa. His extensive exhibition history spans both Poland and international venues, including the Museum of the Earth in Warsaw (2022), the Le Corbusier Foundation in Paris (2021), the Fort Institute of Photography in Warsaw (2019), Architektur Galerie in Munich (2018), Centro de Arte Alcobendas in Madrid (2017), Alarcon Criado Gallery in Seville (2017), the Architectural Association in London, the National Art Gallery in Sopot (2013), Bunkier Sztuki in Kraków (2012), and the Graham Foundation in Chicago (2011).