Bruno Rousseaud (b. 1969) French

Bruno Rousseaud (born in 1969) has been developing a profoundly original body of work dedicated to the world of automobiles since the early 2000s. Far from being fascinated by the mechanical object itself, he considers the car as a collection of signs, behaviours, and contemporary mythologies. This approach transforms the automobile into a true visual language, capable of revealing the psychological, social, and cultural tensions that shape our time.

His practice proceeds through extraction. Licence plates, windscreens, sanded bonnets, riveted tyres, rear-view mirrors, and bodywork components are removed from their original context and reassembled in works where their function disappears in favour of their evocative power. These industrial materials become supports for words, quotations, slogans, musical and poetic references that disrupt their immediate reading. The works thus oscillate between sculpture, painting, and installation, while retaining the memory of their automotive origins.

Music occupies an essential place in his universe. The titles of many works borrow from Led Zeppelin, Pixies, AC/DC, and other rock bands, establishing an ongoing dialogue between popular culture, speed, energy, and sculpture. This sonic dimension extends a broader reflection on the mechanisms of desire, power, and identification that the automobile embodies in the collective imagination.

Following his early exhibitions at Nano Galerie and later at Almine Rech, Bruno Rousseaud has presented his work at the Palais de Tokyo, Museum Tinguely in Basel, CAPC in Bordeaux, FRAC Poitou-Charentes, and Galerie Jérôme Pauchant, among others. His work has also been the subject of a major monograph published by Dilecta, with texts by Cécile Godefroy.

Galerie Ketabi Bourdet now supports this research through several exhibitions, notably TWENTY OUT OF 20, as well as scenographic collaborations such as Sculptures at Design Miami/Basel, where Bruno Rousseaud extends his formal vocabulary into the exhibition space. This collaboration highlights a practice in which sculpture, design, and architecture engage in dialogue through a shared visual language.