Xxijra Hii

1988, La Rochelle, FRANCE
2019-20 Université Paris Nanterre
2012-14 Superior School of Art & Design / Toulon

Floryan Varenne’s sculpture embodies paradoxes: objects that signify both destruction and protection, masculinity and queerness, strength and fragility. Miracle, a glass dumbbell with mace-like fins, references a weapon’s latent violence and fragility while evoking the complex histories of masculinity and queer identity. Mounted on medical retractors like a relic of uncertain origin, it becomes a symbol of vulnerability in tension with power. This is reflected in Querelle, which translates literally as ‘quarrell’. This inherent conflict is a means of countering the often toxic side to masculine posturing in a confrontational sense with a double-head arrow pointing at both the enemy and the self. In Stella Splendens, Floryan develops a series of star and flower shaped reliefs crafted from medical auto-clave cores, reminiscent of fractal pistils, nuclear cores, or a futuristic coat-of-arms. These works intertwine the scientific, the mythological, and the militarized, suggesting the body and its environment as sites of both struggle and transformation.

Floryan Varennes was born in 1988 in La Rochelle (FR). His work has been exhibited in France at L’Art dans les Chapelles, Arts Éphémères as part of Manifesta in Marseille, the Maison des Arts Georges et Claude Pompidou in Cajarc, and the Salon de Montrouge. Internationally, his work has been shown at Galerie du Monde in Hong Kong (HK), Polansky Gallery in Prague (CZ), and Veda Gallery in Florence (IT).

He has also participated in several residencies, including Est-Nord-Est (CA), Ferme-Asile in Sion (CH), the Synagogue de Delme in Lindre-Basse (FR), Pollen in Montfanquin (FR), the Maison Daura at the MAGCP (FR), the Centre Hospitalier in Chambéry (FR), and the Centre International d'Art Verrier in Meisenthal (FR). In 2021, Varennes was awarded the "Artist in Company" residency by the French Ministry of Culture at the Musée des Métiers du Cuir in Graulhet (FR). He was later selected by La Fondation des Artistes for the Printemps 2023 patronage commission.

Solo exhibitions in France include Alter-Héraut at the Istres Art Center, Violence Vitale at the Maison des Métiers du Cuir in Graulhet, Ultra-Lésion at the Galerie des Musées in Toulon, and in 2022, Hypersensibilité at the Maëlle Galerie in Paris/Romainville.

His work has been featured in numerous publications, including XIBT (IT), Queer Circle (UK), ART Das Kunstmagazin (DE), Art and Piece (HK), Artpress (FR), Beaux-Arts (FR), Manifesto XXI (FR), Numéro Art (FR), Le Quotidien de l’Art (FR), Art Viewers (UK), and Revue 02 (FR).

In 2022, works by Varennes were acquired by the national collections of FRAC ALSACE - Sélestat (FR), FRAC Poitou-Charentes - Angoulême (FR), FRAC Occitanie - Musée des Abattoirs - Toulouse (FR), Musée du Verre - Musée de France - Meisenthal (FR) and SUNPRIDE Fondation - Hong Kong (HK).