Bertrand Gadenne

Bertrand Gadenne, a visual artist, was born in 1951 and died in 2024. For some fifty years, Bertrand Gadenne explored various forms of photography—particularly projection—in his work. 

His work, inspired by our natural environment, invites us to reconsider our relationship with the world.

The Butterflies offers a tactile experience of photography. In this work, Bertrand Gadenne subverts the traditional use of slide projection by mounting the projector vertically high above the ground. Viewers are invited to intercept the beam of light with their hands, which, acting as a screen, reveal the invisible image on the floor. As the hands move, the butterflies seem to come to life. By combining these insects—allegories of the soul and transience—with the tangible nature of the light projection, this poetic work evokes the fragile miracle of the visible and the fleeting nature of time.

Since 1990, Bertrand Gadenne has been exploring this phenomenon of appearances in public spaces through video projections. His “intrusive” installations of moving images are custom-designed to fit specific locations and their architecture, transforming them into nocturnal theaters of the fantastic and the extraordinary. The Institute’s main courtyard comes to life: while a building watches you, the façade of the mansion transforms into an aquarium. While these interventions offer an opportunity to invite the animal world into urban space, their ambivalence prompts reflection: we are no longer merely viewers; we are also being observed.