Monique Rozanès: The Light Alchemist I Can’t Believe I’m Just Discovering.

Installation view, “Vision” by Monique Rozanès at Galerie Gastou, Paris. Photo: Edouard Auffray.

Homage to Kandinsky Console by Monique Rozanès. Photo: Edouard Auffray.

I was absolutely floored when Monique Rozanès’ latest exhibition crossed my desk—you could say her work genuinely knocked my socks off. Rozanès is a pioneering artist who has been transforming synthetic resin into mesmerizing sculptures since the mid-20th century, and her latest exhibition, “Vision” at Paris’s sleek Galerie Gastou, is on now until 19th April, 2025. The only real question here is—how have I never heard of her until now? Naturally, I had to do a little bit more research.

Born in 1936 in Bordeaux to a family with Egyptian and Sephardic roots, Rozanès began her artistic journey at Paris’s École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in 1955, studying alongside future design stars like Olivier Mourgue and Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Her ground-breaking experimentation with plastic materials made her a singular figure in 20th-century art.

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Installation view, “Vision” by Monique Rozanès at Galerie Gastou, Paris. Photo: Edouard Auffray.

Rozanès’ process is utterly captivating. Starting with transparent Methyl Methacrylate liquid, she sculpts blocks before meticulously cutting and assembling them, layer by layer, through a specialised fusion method. This results in impeccably polished, transparent surfaces that reveal a kind of internal landscape of geometric forms and colours that shift as light passes through them. It’s like magic, but it’s actually science.

I love how she explores transparency and emptiness to question the fragility of existence. There’s something almost quantum about her approach—emptiness becomes not just void but a space of transformation and energy. Her repurposed industrial materials create sculptures where solid matter coexists with absence, playing with light, reflections, and shadows that emphasise the subjectivity of vision.

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Monique Rozanes in her atelier. Portrait by Edouard Auffray.

I can see Rozanès’s influence trickling through to contemporary designers and artists working with transparency and light today—her pioneering approach feels remarkably fresh and relevant.

Rozanès’ latest exhibition is housed in the iconic Galerie Gastou, with its sparkling terrazzo façade designed by Ettore Sottsass. Established in 1986, the gallery has been instrumental in introducing France to design masters like the Memphis group and Shiro Kuramata. Now run by Yves Gastou and his son Victor, the gallery continues its tradition of mixing 20th-century design masters with contemporary creators.

If you’re in Paris before April 19th, this show is a must-see. For more information, click here.

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[Images courtesy of Galerie Gastou. Photography by Edouard Auffray.]