Richard Texier (b. 1955, Niort) describes himself with disarming simplicity: “I am a painter, a sculptor, or at least someone very close to the visual arts.” Yet his practice extends far beyond any single definition, moving fluidly between sculpture and painting, each medium sustaining and inspiring the other.

Conceived within the wider constellation of Tales of Pantheism, this work reveals the full arc of Texier’s universe, uniting sculpture and painting within a single, expansive vision. Painting complements sculpture as a meditative and exploratory counterpart, offering a space where intuition, matter, and imagination continuously inform one another.

Entering Texier’s sculptural pantheon is akin to stepping into an archaeological tale, a gradual uncovering of forms that seem to surface from beneath layers of time. His sculptures, reminiscent of objects exhumed from the earth, appear as though buried for millennia or sent back from a distant future. His bestiary evokes the prehistoric African cradle of humankind, creatures that are both primordial and prophetic. The past appears to announce our future, while the future seems capable of recounting our past, revealing a mythology that exists beyond linear time.

In Texier’s universe, animals are ever-present, while humans are conspicuously absent. This absence raises a lingering question: are humans yet to come, or have they already vanished? His creatures inhabit a realm that is at once pre- and post-historic, a suspended age in which our own presence feels uncertain.

Sculpture becomes the physical, tactile, and narrative dimension of Texier’s world. Rooted in figuration, objects such as lamps, bowls, and chandeliers belong to daily rituals, yet come alive through imagination. From the chandeliers, flames cast trembling shadows across the walls, an intimate waltz that animates each animal form. Light endows them with breath, as if lending each creature a soul. Drawing on Egyptian, Chinese, pre-Columbian, and imagined worlds, the sculptures resist categorization, existing beyond art historical boundaries. Their earthy, mineral patinas reinforce a sense of timelessness and mythic continuity.