Regis Chaperon

French artist Régis Chaperon has a double professional facet: on the one hand he is an experienced stonemason with a professional career that goes back to when he started an apprenticeship at 17 years of age. At the same time, he is a sculptor gifted with great formal sensibility and sensitivity to the concepts that he treats.

For 10 years he learned the skills of stonemasonry, travelling throughout France and being employed as a craftsman at different workshops. His artistic vision led him to Italy, where he lived for 3 years, working between Pietrasanta and Carrara alongside well-known sculptors and craftsmen. During this time he collaborated with Nicolas Bertoux and Cynthia Sah to create a large civic sculpture that is now in Hong Kong.

He decided to go to Valencia to learn more about sculpture and spent 1 year as a student at the University of Fine Arts exploring anatomy, portraiture, wood, ceramics and stone. At the same time he opened his mind to contemporary concepts of art.

Between all these trips he has created public sculptures in Germany, France and Spain. He has been selected to take part in different contests and Symposiums of sculpture and has created several exhibitions.

Régis Chaperon’s work constantly returns to the concepts of Family, of Protection and Roundness, as in the case of his playfully named series of rocking sculptures, “Tentetiesos”, a Spanish word used to describe a toy that rocks and rights itself when pushed. In this series he has a piece called ‘Maternity’ but also a piece called ‘Paternity’. As Régis Chaperon says:

"Always one resorts to the topic of maternity because people see in the mother protection and tenderness, but what of fathers – cannot a father be sweet and protective, does he not also have the natural right to be in direct contact with his child?"

For this reason, he has created a father's figure with a strong physique, almost comparable to a gorilla while the expression and attitude convey the understanding of a delicate and subtle father.

Another theme that he explores in his work is the dynamics of a petrified instant. He has no interest in making sculptures without movement. This might also be the philosophy of his own life, since he is always looking for new challenges and dreaming of different projects, which cause him to be in constant movement, travelling, creating and growing artistically.

Régis Chaperon’s work can be divided into two parts: static sculpture with movement, as in the series of rocking sculptures, Tentetiesos, and static sculpture with dynamic themes, such as ‘The Man against the Wind’ or ‘Il Bimbo e l’Acqua’. In both cases the informing principle is dynamism.

In his works, pure and simple lines combine with the use of textures, creating contrasts between the polished finish and the natural break of the stone. Everything is aimed at realising the beauty of the material.

Currently Régis Chaperon lives in Oxford where he works as a stonemason and simultaneously creates sculptures while preparing for a number of exhibitions in this country. Recently he has created the artistic group ‘ARC’ with his partner, the Spanish sculptor Ana Ruiz. Both are engaged in a common project based on the four elements: Fire, Water, Air and Earth.

Commissions accepted.
Contact: group@arcstonesculpture.com

Regis Chaperon's CV is available to download in PDF format here..