Artists Support

The Artek Rope Chair

When working in his studio, Bouroullec sits on the Rope Chair, designed in 2020 for Finnish furniture company, Artek. Each leg is a metal tube, and a rope weaves from the front leg to the top of the first back leg and over to the second one, before circling back around to the other front leg.

The French artist and designer told us about the trials of being left-handed and the joys of living in Paris.

Clara Zevi What chair do you sit on at the studio?

Ronan Bouroullec I sit on the Rope Chair we designed for Artek and which was first presented at the Fondation Pinault in Paris. It's a simple chair with a tube frame and a cord that passes through the tube. I like that you don’t know which period it’s from, but it's totally different to anything else that exists. It's a bit like a magic trick: it's done with almost nothing, but has a powerful effect.

Clara ZeviWhat does the color orange make you think of?

Ronan BouroullecColor is a subject that runs throughout my life, but I don't have many words to describe it. Color is something quite intuitive, there is no wrong color, but the way you use it could be terrible. I use a specific brand of ink pen for my drawings and their orange is not too light and not too saturated. I draw in a totally disorganized way. I start with a line, and then another line, and in the end it's like walking through a landscape. I don't know exactly where I'll go, and I don't want to know.

Clara ZeviAre there ever failed drawings where you think you're going somewhere and then you take a wrong turn?

Ronan BouroullecAt a certain point I can hesitate between two directions. Sometimes I make the right choice and sometimes I go the wrong direction. Drawing is a way of searching. It's very different to designing an object, where there are facts, techniques, tools and a craftsman or a machine. With drawing it's just paper and a pen, it's a very free discipline.

Clara ZeviYes, your drawings are very different from your design work. Maybe you need one to do the other. Which hand do you draw with?

Ronan BouroullecI'm left-handed. When I started school aged 6, being right-handed was still considered better so I was forced for some months to write with my right hand. It was a nightmare and it made me develop a certain aversion to school and teachers.

Clara ZeviCan you tell me about the last drawing you made?

Ronan BouroullecI made a drawing last night while I was in the kitchen with my daughter, helping her prepare for a geopolitics exam she's taking today. I drew while we discussed her studies and I made a violet, geometric drawing. I think my drawings are most interesting when I'm not too concentrated on making them. It’s like when you draw while you're speaking on the phone – you are dreaming, you don't have full control and you don't care to have full control. The exam was well-prepared and the drawing was good!

Clara ZeviDo you look back through your drawings?

Ronan BouroullecWhen I'm very happy with a drawing I will put it up on the wall, just for a few days. But in general, I put finished drawings in a drawer. Every six months I open the drawer and look back through my work. Some are then thrown in the garbage, some go up on the wall, and some stay in the drawer until I look again six months later. I'm lucky that drawing is a discipline in my life that exists without constraint. I've drawn since I was a child so it has always been a very important part of my life. I think drawing is a way to beat frustration. It's also a way to evacuate the complexity of life.

Ronan Bouroullec's liturgical objects for the Saint-Michel de Brasparts Chapel in Brittany

Following the devastating wildfires of 2022, which destroyed over two thousand hectares of land in the Monts d'Arrée region of Brittany, the Saint-Michel Chapel in Brasparts was fully restored. Ronan Bouroullec re-made the entire ecclesiastical furniture, including the altar, central cross, candle holders and a circular mirror - the chapel's sole source of illumination - using granite, steel and glass.

Clara ZeviHow do art and design talk to each other in your practice?

Ronan BouroullecWhen I started working, if you were a designer, you were not supposed to draw and if you were an artist, you were not supposed to design a chair. I like doing different things and I'm fascinated by the diversity of possibilities. I like to work with a craftsman in Japan one week, and the following week go to Italy to work on a machine that can produce an object in one minute. I usually spend two years or more developing an object, but I also need to create in a way that is very quick and solitary. This for me is drawing. Drawing is one of the purest forms of expression.

Of course, I might use a color in a drawing that will become helpful the following day when I have to decide on the specific transparency of a piece of glass. I feel that my mind is a palette full of forms, full of relationships between colors and shapes.

Clara ZeviIt sounds like there's a freedom in your drawings in that they don't have to lead to something else. Are they always spontaneous rather than planned?

Ronan BouroullecI'm someone very spontaneous, but this spontaneity is linked to complex knowledge that comes from a lot of observation. I'm not at all scientific, I’m very intuitive. But it's not magical intuition, it's the result of all the things I have seen and that I have glued together like a collage of ideas. I'm surrounded by colors just like a cook is surrounded by vegetables. Cooking is subtle, like drawing; you can have the best piece of meat, but if you add too much salt it's ruined. With drawing it's the same.

Clara ZeviIs there a place in Paris that you visit frequently?

Ronan BouroullecI like to walk in Paris. I can be interested in the curve of a street or an old window that will probably fall in a few months. I also like seeing the river from certain perspectives. Palais Royale is a place that I like to go to because there is a beauty and certain harmony in the gardens and in the relationship between the trees, the architecture, and the way the park has been planted. Place des Vosges too. The beauty of Paris is its size, there are so many things in a very condensed, small perimeter. I grew up in the countryside and I was so happy to leave, but the marvel of this city took time for me to understand.

Clara ZeviWhat are you reading?

Ronan BouroullecI try to read Le Monde every day. I like to go through and read about everything, from sports to economics to arts. Newspapers show the movement of the world.

Clara ZeviYou mentioned your experience in school. And now I'm wondering why the work that Apprentis d’Auteuil is doing for children's education and to keep children in school is important to you?

Ronan BouroullecI grew up in a middle class family in the countryside. My parents came from a farming family and they wanted me and my brother to learn things that they didn’t have the chance to.

Right now there are so many problems in education and the only way for me to make the world better is to help give kids the chance to learn, especially kids that grow up in difficult situations. When you’re young it's so hard to find your own solutions, especially when you are lost. For me, one of the most important ways to change society is through education.

A wall of Ronan Bouroullec ink drawings for his 2024 exhibition at ECAL, Switzerland

For Dessins Quotidiens, at the École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) Ronan Bouroullec presented a selection of drawings, notebooks and bas-reliefs.

Ronan Bouroullec and Issey Miyake's collaborative collection for Autumn Winter 2024

Presented during the Homme Plissé Issey Miyake menswear show in Paris, the collection reinterprets Bouroullec's growing body of abstract drawings into a collection of garments and accessories.

Apprentis d'Auteuil focuses on supporting young people in vulnerable situations, particularly those facing social exclusion, poverty, or educational challenges. Their main activities are centered around providing education, training, and personal development opportunities to help these young people overcome adversity and build a better future. Here are the key areas of their work:

Child Protection:

Together with Child Welfare services Apprentis d'Auteuil finds solutions for children and adolescents that are living in danger, or at risk of living in danger. Finding a secure environment and stable living situation comes first. In some situations when living at home is no longer safe, kids are brought to foster homes and for less severe cases Apprentis d'Auteuil works with families to help them manage and improve their situations. The second step, after assuring a safe environment, is restoring confidence and making a plan for the future of the child.

Education:

Apprentis d'Auteuil runs over 300 educational establishments throughout France, including nurseries, schools and vocational high schools. They not only provide facilities but also tutors and individualized support for students who have fallen behind or are at risk of exclusion from the traditional education system.

Professional training:

Apprentis d'Auteuil provides 80 professional training courses in 12 different sectors, from hospitality to agriculture. The charity also secures internships, apprenticeships and full time employment for those they support. They offer career counseling, personal development workshops, and life skills training to help youth navigate the challenges of adult life.

Partnerships and Advocacy:

The charity also works closely with other organizations, including local authorities, schools, and social services, to create a network of support for at-risk youth. It also advocates for public policies that protect young people’s rights and improve the social services available to them.

Apprentis d'Auteuil's key Figures for 2023:

- 40,000 children brought into care

- 9,000 families in France supported

- 450 active establishments and systems including foster homes, nurseries, schools, colleges, high schools and continuing education centers

- 8,000 employees

- 2,000 volunteers including 110 civic service volunteers

The funds raised from Ronan Bouroullec's donated ink drawing will play a crucial role in supporting a new Apprentis d'Auteuil program—arts education workshops for young students. These workshops are being piloted across several of the organization's primary and secondary schools, with a particular focus on fostering creativity and broadening educational horizons.

At one such primary school in the Oise region, the program has already proven to be a valuable addition to the students' learning experience. Each Friday, the 75 students are split into six groups and rotate between their regular academic subjects like French and mathematics, and creative sessions that introduce them to a wide array of artistic practices. These include painting, sculpture, stained glass, and even stone carving—skills that encourage self-expression, critical thinking, and hands-on problem solving.

This approach not only enriches the children's educational journey, but it also opens new doors for personal growth, teamwork, and confidence. The ongoing fundraising efforts will ensure that these creative workshops can expand and reach more students in the future.

Nathalie Heu, director of the Oise primary school says: "Since we are in a poor rural area, children don’t necessarily have the opportunity to discover painting or singing, let alone stone carving or mosaic work! We’ve noticed that our arts offerings have a positive effect, especially on how children collaborate and on their self-confidence. Some students' academic and behavioral results have also improved."

Louise-Marie, an 8 year old student at the school says: "On Fridays, we work and we learn lots of things, but it's as if we weren't working."

Ronan's Artists Support donation will provide access to the arts for more than 150 children like Louise-Marie, for one year.

Six 13m-high bronze and crystal fountains for the Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées, Paris

Ronan and his brother, Erwan, designed the fountains in 2019. They write: "The fountains revolve slowly to accompany passers-by and the movement of traffic. Their ballet mirrors the natural choreography of the setting. This rotation, in addition to the mirror-like effects of the crystals, produces a continuous shimmer and provides an ever-changing perspective."