Art commissions
Public contracts issued by state services, local authorities, universities, or other public institutions, the 1% for art scheme is always embedded within a very specific set of requirements, most often linked to the construction of a new building. Historically fulfilled by sculptors and visual artists, this “decoration obligation” is increasingly opening up to other artistic practices such as design or drawing. This is especially true in the context of public commissions initiated by citizen or community groups, who seek more convivial and engaging forms of artistic intervention.
Le Grand dessein
Conceived and created in collaboration with children’s book illustrators and comic authors Éponine Cottey, Marion Duclos, Saehan Parc, Anne-Margot Ramstein, and curator Thomas Bernard, this monumental composition reveals itself through a kinetic effect in the public reception hall of Lyon’s new State Administrative City. A joyful representation of the diversity of its services and audiences, this Grand Dessein (The Grand Intent(ion))offers a thousand playful readings inspired by platform video games and was crafted from drawings made using traditional techniques: ink, watercolor, and gouache. Selected original drawings are displayed framed within the reception booths. Additionally, several other interventions grouped under the title Les échappées have been installed in the common areas used exclusively by staff.
1% for Art commission for the new State Administrative City of Lyon. Printed on HPL laminate, 3450 x 14000 mm, plus 142 thermolacquered aluminum slats in two shades, each 50 mm wide and 3 mm thick, spaced 100 mm apart. Project owner: Prefecture of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Project management, co-curation, and co-creation: Marc Vernier 2024-2025
Memory in Aspe, a tribute to peace
Conceived and realized in collaboration with Anne-Laure Boyer, visual artist, and Emmanuelle Espinasse, comic book author, this ensemble of five monumental outdoor works reimagines the place and form of a collective memory gradually erased by time—specifically that of the inhabitants of the Aspe Valley in the Pyrenees, shaped by two world wars. Each piece revives lived stories on the very sites of their memory, connects them with ongoing realities, and proposes a five-stage journey from north to south of the valley: at the Sarrance monastery for refugees; the Aydius cemetery for the 1917 mutineers; Bedous train station for those lost on the front who departed from that same station; the banks of the Aspe river at Eygun for the Aragonese workforce who fueled the war industry; and the Lhers plateau for escapees, guides, and resistance fighters during World War II fleeing the German occupation and the Vichy regime. The entire installation is supported by interpretive signage and a website, both available in five languages.
Digitized drawings, laid out and printed double-sided on HPL laminated panels. Structures made of Corten steel. Bedous piece: main panel measuring 270 x 900 cm. Public commission initiated by the Mémoire d’Aspe association. Project owner: Communauté de Communes Haut-Béarn. Supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the SNCF Foundation, the Cité internationale de l’image et de la bande dessinée, and the municipalities of the Aspe Valley. Project management, co-authoring: Marc Vernier. 2018-2022
La très grande éclosion
This mural painting, measuring approximately 460 x 1300 cm, was inspired by a drawing titled La grande éclosion (The Great Bloom), about 100 x 100 cm, created by Laëtitia Bourget using a quill pen on paper with pigments she extracted herself from various plants gathered near her home. Transposing this initial gesture on a monumental scale, Très Grande Éclosion was conceived and executed with Laëtitia Bourget, to whom I proposed new technical options to enable this scaling up while preserving the unique plastic qualities of the original gesture. The collective realization was supported by visual artist Philippe Poupet. Resonating with the research fields of this agro-biosciences center—specializing in studying and developing plant species adapted to climate change—the work expresses a form of living expansion through a cellular-like pattern, where symbiosis occurs while maintaining the uniqueness of a multitude of variations from a simple elemental gesture.
1% for Art commission at the Agrobiosciences Hub B of Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse. Acrylic painting, 460 x 1300 cm Project management and artistic direction: Marc Vernier 2024
Big 8 and other signs of the time
The project owner desired a work that would invite visitors to stroll and pause within the wooded Mandavit park, which runs alongside the small Eau Bourde river and houses the media library, located near the Théâtre des Quatre Saisons, with which the installation establishes a connection. I therefore envisioned this installation as a giant roll of dice scattering around forty letters and symbols outdoors, centered on an eight-meter-tall figure eight. Drawn freehand on cardboard templates, these forms were created as lost molds and then cast in reinforced, fibered concrete, tinted with natural pigments. Before installation, the entire layout was first arranged in cardboard to visualize the placement. A partnership was established with the nearby Cemex concrete plant for their fabrication, and two inmates from the local detention center were involved in the production and installation, in collaboration with the SPIP (Probation and Integration Service).
1% for Art commission at the Jean Vautrin Media Library, Gradignan (33) Design, production, and project management: Marc Vernier 2009