Michel Mimran

Michel Mimran (born Michael Michel Mimran, January 5, 1954) is a French architect, artist and member of the artistic circle of Luxembourg.^[1]

"Triptyque: Fotoforms, Crash in the Kitchen, Memoria: La gare de Luxembourg, le 11 juillet 2009"

Biography

Michel Mimran studied architecture in Paris, graduating in 1980 with the following thesis : « Perception of architecture and architecture of perception » In 1974, he was among the 22 students (out of 800) selected by the jury of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Paris, a jury that was presided by Claude Idoux (former assistant of Piet Mondrian) As a student, he took numerous classes given by remarkable speakers and professors such as César, Iannis Xenakis, Michel Carrade, Bernard Lassus or Jacques Lecoq. Michel Mimran graduates in 1976 from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Paris and receives a scholarship for his work and researches on space perception. After having worked in several architecture offices since the age of 19, he starts his own architecture agency at age 26. From the start, he specializes in rehabilitions, heavy renovations of office, activity and residential buildings.

In 1983, he develops for the first time in France a totally computarized structure dedicated to architecture, DAO-CAO. In the meantime he also establishes a concept based on the organization and management of the working space “OGET”, with its appropriate furniture. With his first works on the Bercy train station, he combines art and science by showing via a photographic process the methodical cutting in "slices" of an urban space, a process concomitant of tomography. Since 1993 he's dedicated himself exclusively to art. With new technologies, he develops his researches on painting, photography and music. He creates then a whole serie of computer-generated animations.

Works

Michel Mimran has been working since 1974 on perception and consequently, memory. His works have something to do with the exploration of every aspect of memory. A memory that he classifies in three categories : the temporal memory, the movement memory and the cultural memory. His first work on the former Bercy train station in Paris, consisted in cutting a space, limited by a photographic frame, in « slices ». 96 photographies showing 96 different spaces. He also cut in « slices » a 360° photographic field. In 1976, he realizes two works requiring a « participative photography » at the Porte Dorée in Paris.

Meanwhile, he starts his first « Fotoforms » colors in an argentic system in order to explore the « movement memory ». In 1995, he’s selected for a serie of magnifying-glasses paintings at « 95 : Luxembourg : European city of culture ». In the 90's, he creates computer-generated images that are exhibited on a flat screen at the villa Vauban^[2] in Luxembourg in 2003.

In summer 2005 during his stay at the Grand Hôtel of Cabourg, he takes a picture of a scene that will inspire him a work on Proust’s idea of memory.

This work, entitled « Cabourg 2006, hommage à Proust ^[3]» was exhibited at the Grand Théâtre of Luxembourg the following year.

"Cabourg 2006, Hommage à Proust"

In 2005 : he works back on his « Fotoforms » and reaches his goal concerning the movement memory, thanks to digital photography. Those « Fotoforms » were exhibited in 2009 at the Tuchfabrik in Trier and are still exhibited at the Olympus^[4] gallery. In 2009 the foreseeing transformation of Luxembourg’s train station inspires him a work on temporal memory called « Memoria: La Gare de Luxembourg, le 11 Juillet 2009 ^[5]». This serie of 24 photographies was exhibited at the Carrérotondes^[6] in Luxembourg.

Since 2008, he has orientated his researches towards cultural memory with a serie of pictures mixing photography, computer-generated images and drawings, entitled « Crash in the Kitchen » and « Flower on the Floor » Those works were exhibited at the Credit Suisse Gallery in Luxembourg city^[7] and are currently exhibited at PopArt88 Gallery^[8] In March 2011, he'll exhibit new photographies at the Abbaye de Neumünster^[9] Currently, in "Wellington-Picadilly", he's using Google Earth and geolocalization as a tool in his work.

Exhibitions

• 1976 : Musée Berryer, France

• 1995 : Luxembourg, European City of Culture

• 2003 : Villa Vauban Luxembourg

• 2005 : Grand Théâtre of Luxembourg^[10]

• 2006 : Grand Théâtre of Luxembourg

• 2009 : Tuchfabrik Trier, Germany

• 2009 : Carrérotondes Luxembourg

• 2010 : Crédit Suisse Luxembourg^[11]

• 2010 : Popart88

• 2011: Abbaye de Neumünster

Sites

popart88.com

Gallery exhibiting “Crash in the Kitchen and Flower on the Floor”

Notes and references

1. ^ http://www.cal.lu/galerie.php
2. ^ http://www.villavauban.lu/Nouveau.html
3. ^ http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/artist_profile/Michel+Mimran/22786.html
4. ^ http://www.olympus-europa.com/consumer/dslr_imagegallery.cfm
5. ^ http://www.cal.lu/documents/CatalogueSalon_2009_103-154.pdf
6. ^ http://eldotv.eldoradio.lu/eveant-ep58-glasses4masses/
7. ^ http://tele.rtl.lu/waatleeft/replay/v/20100710/21/22513/
8. ^ http://www.popart88.com/popart88/Welcome.html
9. ^ http://ccrn.calendar.lu/ccrn_newsletter.asp?ccrn=46317&m=2&y=2011&typus=0&flex=30
10. ^ http://www.cal.lu/presse/Salon2005Ouverture_LuxWort211105.pdf
11. ^ http://www.agendalux.lu/upload/magazine/mag_40.pdf

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Name	Mimran, Michel
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Date of birth	January 5, 1954
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