The Bernier/Eliades Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition, Landscaping, featuring Maxime Testu and Xolo Cuintle in Brussels.

The exhibition explores the idea of creating landscapes, the act of landscaping that intersects history, mythology, nature, and art, drawing inspiration from everyday objects through diverse perspectives. The show will present both paintings and sculptures that challenge the linear perception of time.

Maxime Testu’s artistic practice involves the use of ink, charcoal, and pigments, allowing him to explore various genres of painting, including still life, history paintings, and landscapes. Working without plans or sketches, Testu captures scenes of everyday life and imagery inspired by nature, literature, and the rural past. He creates forms that are nearly tangible through a spontaneous, almost doodle-like technique.

Xolo Cuintle is an artist duo formed in 2020 by Romy Texier and Valentin Vie Binet, based in Paris and working in Aubervilliers. They create sculptures using concrete, a material they see as emblematic of contemporary challenges. By sculpting it as a fertile ground for hybrid organisms and using ornamentation as a temporal marker, their works merge contemporary issues with ancient mythologies. Each piece tells speculative stories about soils and the life forms they sustain, challenging linear notions of time.

Maxime Testu (1990, Rouen): Studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Lyon and the Haute École d’Art et de Design of Geneva. His work has been exhibited in numerous venues, including the FRAC Grand Large of Dunkerque, Les Tanneries Art Center, the Maison des Arts Pompidou, and the FRAC Champagne-Ardenne. The FRAC Île-de-France recently acquired a series of his works. Maxime participated in the Salon de Montrouge in 2019 and was a finalist for the Ricard Foundation Prize in 2018.

Romy Texier (1995, San Francisco): Graduated from the École Duperré, Paris, and the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art, Paris.

Valentin Vie Binet (1996, Paris): Studied at the École Duperré, Paris, and the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art, Paris.