Designers Ronan Bouroullec
Ronan Bouroullec is a French artist and designer, born in 1971 in Quimper. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), he set up his own studio in 1995.
He gained recognition in 1996 when his Vase Soliflore was added to the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou. The following year, he held his first solo exhibition with Vases Combinatoires at the Gallery Néotù. Giulio Cappellini, impressed by his work, invited him to create his first industrial design pieces.
In 1998 he was joined by Erwan, his brother, forming a prolific and complementary duo. After nearly 20 years of collaboration, they have now decided to pursue separate careers.
His meeting with Rolf Fehlbaum, director of Vitra, in 1999 marked the beginning of a long-lasting partnership, allowing him to work with renowned brands, expanding his influence internationally.
His creations, blending craftsmanship with industrial production, are featured in the collections of major museums, including MoMA in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,
His work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions, around the world notably at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA, Los Angeles, 2004), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2012), and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris, 2013). In spring 2024, the Centre Pompidou in Paris is organizing an exhibition dedicated to Ronan Bouroullec, celebrating his donation to the museum.
He has also designed permanent public installations, such as Nuage Promenade (Miami, 2017), Ring & Ruisseau (Vitra Campus, Weil am Rhein, 2018), Les Fontaines des Champs-Élysées (Paris, 2019), and the Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection (Paris, 2021).
Ronan Bouroullec had received numerous awards, including the Compasso d’Oro (2011) and the London Design Medal (2014), The Design Prize and the City of Milan official award, 2017.
Alongside his work as a designer, drawing—an activity he has pursued since early childhood—holds a significant place in Ronan Bouroullec's daily life.
In recent years, his drawings have been acquired by major public and private collections worldwide, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Centre Pompidou.
His works have been showcased in various venues across the globe: Giorgio Mastinu Fine Art Gallery (Venice, 2018 and 2022), Galerie kreo (Paris, 2019 and 2022, London, 2021), Casa Mutina (Modena, 2021), Isetan the Space (Tokyo, 2024), and Litcht Gallery (Tokyo, 2024) Gallery 21_21 (Tokyo, 2024).
In 2023, Phaidon published Day After Day, a retrospective covering over ten years of his career presented as a personal journal.
Ronan Bouroullec is represented by Galerie kreo in Paris and London, and by Giorgio Mastinu Fine Art Gallery in Venice for his original drawings. Limited and open editions are distributed by The Wrong Shop.
