STEPHANE DUCRET: Biography
Born on August 31, 1970 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Stéphane Ducret began exploring his artistic niche since childhood, feeling most at ease with a paintbrush in hand. Eventually, he moved to Geneva, Switzerland where he was accepted to the renowned Haute Ecole dʼArt et de Design Genève/Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) and where he followed the instruction of famous artists pair Sylvie and Chérif Defraoui, and then of Christian Marclay, and received a Bachelors degree in Art (ʼ95) and a Masters degree in Art History (ʼ96).

Ducret spent the following two years after graduation teaching visual arts and simultaneously building his independent art research. As Ducret became grounded in his art, he felt a push for new ways to expand his research at which point he decided to move to New York City. Thus began his first works of The Rebirth of the Cool series using paint and wooden media; pulling from inspirations of interior and object design.

Shortly after his arrival, Ducret befriended Sébastien Agneessens and Jérôme Schmider. For the next two years, the three comrades lived together and built a career together. With their ahead-ofthe- trend intuition, they opened a gallery called The Point in the then desolate Chinatown area. It was a philanthropic endeavor catered to the art scene in NYC where they promoted young American and foreign artists and featured installations, fashion shows, photography, and paintings.

On his side, Ducret continued to develop The Rebirth of the Cool. Though still influenced by interior and object design, the graphics and colors became sharper and more vibrant reminiscent of the ʼ60s and ʼ70s. His objective was and continues to aim at a seamless evocation of pleasure from the observer through an aesthetic connection between the observer and the art; in essence, establishing pleasure in the moment.

With his ambition at heart and art in hand, Ducret was eager for new influences; Porto, Portugal was his next move where he received increasing acclaim over the year. During that time, Ducret further developed his style that eventually changed his methodology completely. He started to design his art on the computer while collaborating with experts in Geneva to transform the digital work into vinyl cuttings arranged on canvas. Currently, Ducret continues to work this way though he explores manipulations of his artistic methodology parallel to the advancement of technology.

In 2002, Ducret was invited to head the Foundation Department of ECAL (Ecole cantonale dʼart de Lausanne/University of Art and Design Lausanne). He accepted the position and moved back to Geneva. During his time there, Ducret managed the direction of the program in subjects such as art, cinema, photography, and architecture. Simultaneously, he was asked to direct the gallery LʼELAC (lʼespace lausannois dʼart contemporain). Under his management, he organized about 40 exhibitions. In 2003, Stephane was the recipient of the most important award for artists in Switzerland, The Leenaards Foundation Grant.

While successfully juggling his responsibilities, Ducret began working on a new series called The Origin of the World. It is a manipulation of existing masterpieces by subduing the details in support of his belief that nowadays art is not observed with the consideration needed to understand it (and by extension, human relationship). Interestingly, the recreated works produce a new level of aestheticism. Again, his objective remains to establish a sense of momentous pleasure between the work and observer.

Stephane Ducret has since moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina and has been living there since 2006. He continues to explore his artistic research through travel - looking for fresh influences and a broader exposure to his work.