Bruno Aveillan

As a visual artist, Aveillan has developed his art in a singular, dense and syncretical manner, which encompasses experimental films and personal photographs. The central reoccurring themes of effacement, memory and the human body play a major role in his work. Simultaneously, Aveillan has developed a personal artistic path that includes photography, experimental films and installations. The major reoccurring themes throughout his work centres around the human condition, wanderings and memory. In an essay entitled "The indomitable grace of light" the art critic Zoe Balthus underlines "Bruno Aveillan’s vivid and powerful imagination’ with which he explores territories where he is free to let his hypersensitive eye tame the slightest movement of matter, intrude into the very core of the mystery of elements, witness the subtle alchemical mutations of life, stand watch for the indomitable grace of light."..."Aveillan is a poet, in harmony with the invisible, in intelligence with the sacred, he is of this calibre of men who are in profound communion with their art." In an interview with the British art critic Stephen Whelan, Aveillan mentioned that he is fascinated and interested by the research and writings on memory and especially those by Israel Rosenfield. « Mnemonic acquisition, such as memories are linked to their context and are therefore incredibly selective. Information that lacks a certain affective or emotional context does not get memorised, so the idea that we are able to search our memories with any precision as we would search on a hard disc, remains rather pointless. » Bruno Aveillan confides.He believed that ‘emotion linked to the memory often stems from a fragmented evocation. A sound, a scent, a texture and, of course, a light can create a strong field of powerful resonances that translate into synesthetic shapes’. Aveillan aims to distance himself from the illusionary realist photographical representation and favours a more impressionistic, fragmented and above all, poetic approach. ‘ This approach touches on the intimate, sometimes upon the edges of abstraction. It is a mental panorama that opens rather than closes, allowing the spectator’s imagination to unfold " he states. ‘It is then a matter of offering areas of uncertainty that provide the mind with the possibility of re-appropriating the moment, like an intuitive and sensorial travelogue.’ At a time when the photographic academism of the new objectivity is overwhelming contemporary production, Aveillan’s work reveals an emotional dimension that is deeply rooted in the being. The viewer can thus form his or her own ‘picture’, and continue the intimate progress of a story, a feeling, an experience, a dream…

Aveillan’s style is characterised by a certain way of " drawing with light " or " obscuring with light " as stated by Contemporary artist Marcos Lutyens in his preface of Aveillan’s book Diotopes. What thus emerges is a unique signature and a singular aesthetic, that hides and/or reveals by the intervention of optical blurs mastered with precision during the shoot. In 2010, he produced Mnemo # Lux, his second book of photography, in which the German curator Jan Ole Eggert (Camera Work Gallery) emphasises the artist’s " powerful desire for knowledge that seeks to penetrate the obscurity of relationships between man and human existence ".

Aveillan’s photographs are regularly exhibited throughout the world and are included in prestigious private and public collections in Europe, the United States, and Asia. He is also the author of the official picture of the first Contemporary Arts festival " Nuit Blanche ", which took place in Paris in 2002. His work includes books such as Diotopes (Ed. Léo Scheer, 2008, in the collection "Janvier" that also represents the work of contemporary artists Claude Lévêque, Thomas Lélu and Edouard Levé.), Mnemo # Lux (Ed. Kerber, 2010), Fascinatio (Ed. Chez Higgins, 2011), Fulguratio (Ed. Chez Higgins, 2011), Bolshoi Underground (Ed. Au delà du raisonnable, 2012), Acetate Spirit (Ed. NOIR) and films such as Minotaur-Ex (2006, collaboration with the choreographer Philippe Combes, with original music composed by Laurent Garnier), Morpholab (2009), WHEAT (2008) and Papillon (2012).

In 2017, Aveillan directed a campaign for French Road Safety which was the most awarded campaign of the year with more than 39 international awards around the globe, including 6 Lions Cannes and the title of "Best ad of the year in France".

In 2017, Aveillan directed an experimental 60 mn documentary film about French sculptor Rodin, produced by Arte and RMN. The film was premiered at The Grand Palais in April 2017 in Paris at the occasion of the opening of the Centennial exhibition of Rodin. It was then screened at Stanford University, San Francisco; Loyola University, Los Angeles; National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia; Fundación Mapfre Casa Garriga Nogués, Barcelona; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

In 2015 Aveillan was set as director of and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 2.

In 2013, Aveillan's photographic and Art work was published in the prestigious VICTOR Book edited by Hasselblad, alongside artists and photographers like Alec Soth, Steve McCurry or David Hockney.

In 2013 Aveillan was developing a feature film project with Universal, a modern fairy tale based on the Cinderella story, with Ann Peacock as a writer.

In beginning of 2012, the House of Cartier announced the international release of its first brand film L'Odyssee de Cartier, a three-and-one-half minute film directed by Aveillan. The short film, which chronicles Cartier's 165-year history, was first screened at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on 29 February 2012. This film has been seen by 180 million viewers around the globe and has received more than 40 gold awards, notably a Golden Lion in Cannes.

In 2010, he shot the first brand film for Shangri-La that metaphorically presents a philosophy imbued by generosity and humanism. This spot and tells the story of a man who has been adopted and saved by wolves. In 2011, Swarovski enlisted directly Aveillan to create a cinema short movie that would conjure Swarovski’s more than one-hundred-year heritage on the big screen, which was premiered at Time Square NYC, on 1 January.

In 2009, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs at the Louvre had a retrospective of his work within their major exhibition devoted to cinema in advertising.

In 2008, Aveillan directed the first ever brand campaign for Louis Vuitton: "Where will life take you" (90" format, translated into 14 languages). This spot evokes "the soul of travel". It has received 14 international awards including 2008 Gold Clio Award, Gold Award at the 2008 London International Awards, Epica, Cristal. The music was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla.

He directed a Flash-animated television series and the television commercial series called Robotskin for Philips in 2007.

Aveillan has also directed a series of commercials for Thermasilk in which he has created and captured a unique dream and poetic world. His spot for Nissan-Infinity "Athem" was presented during the premiere of the 2002 Oscar ceremony. Alongside Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone, Aveillan has directed four commercials for the launch of the brand Orange. He has worked in collaboration with the Land Artist Nils Udo to create unique visual worlds for the perfume Mahora from Guerlain. In 2006, he also worked with fashion designer Olivier Theyskens for the launch of the new Rochas Fragrance (Starring Model Jessica Stam).

One of his very early spots in his directing career, Perrier "La Foule", received an avalanche of international awards. In 1999, succeeding the directors Lars von Trier and Roland Joffé, Aveillan directed the new episode in the advertising sage for CNP. Additionally, he directed the launch commercial for Lanvin perfume "Oxygène". It is during this spot that Gisele Bündchen makes her debut on screen. During his career Aveillan has also filmed world-renowned stars such as Monica Bellucci, Rachel Weisz, Freida Pinto, Natalia Vodianova, Claudia Schiffer, Shalom Harlow, Karlie Kloss, Lara Stone, Natasha Poly, Liya Kebede, Amy Smart, Tina Balthazar, Sharon Stone, Catherine Hurley, Milla Jovovich, Leila Bekhti, Jessica Stam, Bianca Balti, Inna Zobova, Louise Pedersen, Julia Stegner, Estelle Lefébure, Elsa Benitez, Mylène Farmer, Morgane Dubled, Vlada Roslyakova, Sunniva Stordahl, Virginie Ledoyen, etc.

Aveillan is one of the most distinguished and internationally sought after directors across the globe in the communication industry. After graduating from Ecole Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Toulouse, he joined Quad Productions in Paris in 1995. Since then, he has directed award-winning short experimental movies and international commercials for clients such as Orange, Chanel, Cartier, Lanvin, Perrier, Louis Vuitton, Audi, Nike, Paco Rabanne, Shangrila, Lexus, Guerlain, Rochas, Jaguar, Samsung, Nissan, Time Warner, Volvo, Miller, Nintendo, Coca-Cola, BMW etc.

Bruno Aveillan (born 1968) is a French filmmaker, photographer and contemporary artist.