Jean-Michel Othoniel (1964) is a French contemporary artist.
He is a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts de Cergy-Pontoise.
Jean-Michel Othoniel's mesmerizing aesthetic is based on the notion of emotional geometry, through the repetition of modular elements such as bricks or pearls, which are his signature and most recurring motif.
He creates magnificent sculptures whose relationship on a human scale ranges from the intimate to the monumental.
His predilection for materials with reversible and often reflective properties, in particular blown glass, which has become emblematic of his practice since the beginning of the 90s, echoes the deeply equivocal nature of his art.
Jean-Michel Othoniel works in a variety of media, including drawing, sculpture, photography, and video.
He attracted attention thanks to his sulfur sculptures exhibited during the documenta in Kassel in 1992.
The fact that he devotes himself to in-situ commissions for public spaces gives part of his work an architectural and social dimension.
However, the artist's sensitivity also brings him closer to Feng Shui, or the art of tuning people and their environment, in his case by allowing the public to inhabit their world through reflection and movement.

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“The beautiful allows us to rise, the marvelous leads us to a certain form of spirituality.”
Jean-Michel Othoniel