Valérie Goutard - known as Val - was a self-taught artist sculpting at the crossroads of paradox to offer the world new possibilities. Genuinely sensitive, magnificently imbalanced, and embedded with her inner light, her work was an attempt at unearthing human relationships towards themselves and their space through plains and voids intertwined.

A true citizen of the world who lived in Europe, Africa, and South America, she settled in Bangkok in 2004 to open her studio among the bronze casters of Ayutthaya. Meeting her husband Frédéric Morel gave her the strength to put herself at risk and perpetually renew her art. She later explored the ways of the glass masters of Murano to broaden her perspective on the illusion, the unseen, the sacred. The grief of her loss was all the more heartfelt considering how fast she evolved to the rank of the greatests.

The unicity of her artistry and the international reach of her name sparked this retrospective which displays some of her most famous masterpieces on two different sites: here at the Alliance Française and at the REDSEA Gallery. You are invited to roam between the metal lines of Val to retrace the story of her exceptionally creative career and grasp the reasons behind the unanimous acclaim for her work - a legacy set in bronze and glass

This exhibition is held concomitantly at Alliance Française de Singapour and REDSEA Gallery. 

Guided tours: 

Come enjoy a guided tour where you will be introduced to some of Val's most famous masterpieces. It is always easier to be moved by an artwork once you have a little more context and artistic perspective. The format of the visit are tailor-made so that everyone can connect with Val's work, English or French speakers, children and parents alike.

Free entrance

Alliance Française' Gallery opening hours: 
Monday: closed
Tuesday to Friday: 1:00pm-7:30pm
Saturday: 9am-5.30pm

About the artist 

After many solo exhibitions held all through Asia (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Korea...) as well as in France, the UK, Belgium... VAL's international reputation took off when she participated in Shanghai Art Fair in 2010 and in the Jing'An International Sculpture Park Project with the presentation of her first monumental sculpture entitled Urban life. In the years that followed this critically acclaimed performance, she had numerous exhibitions and public installations and created sculptures that are the very signature of her creative and sculptural vision. 

In 2016, the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (CAFA) paid her a rare tribute for a Western artist by organising a retrospective exhibition of her work. She and her husband then achieved the feat of installing Ocean Utopia on the seabed of Koh Tao in Thailand, a few months before her tragic death in Thailand in October 2016. This sculptural ensemble aims at the re-establishment of extinct coral reefs which constitute the third medium of this artwork. 

For any enquiry, please send an email to gallery-eventassist@alliancefrancaise.org.sg