Overview
"A painting must be in harmony with the surrounding environment, just like perfume or music."
François Bonnel (France, b.1968) is a French abstract artist currently based in Toulouse, France. Bonnel approaches art creation in an improvisational manner, infusing musicality into his work. Throughout his artistic journey, he continuously explores various techniques and media, including digital media, photography, and collage. With different musical styles serving as inspiration, his artworks are characterized by straightforward lines, shapes, and colors, exuding a high level of recognition and releasing his passion for art freely and purely. His works are permanently collected by numerous private collections.
Works
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MACADAM - POINT D'EQUILIBRE, 2025 -
CARRY ON, 2025
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I AM WITH THE BAND, 2025
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CEREBRAL KEY, 2025
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FAVOURITE, 2025
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BOL ROUGE, 2025
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BOL VERT CLAIR, 2025
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BOL CIEL, 2025
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HIGHER, 2025
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SWEETER THAN, 2025
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SURF , 2025
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LAST WALTZ, 2025
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Oil, 2023/24
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That's all I Wanted from You, 2023
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Celle que vous croyez
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Midnight, 2022
Videos
Biography
François Bonnel is an abstract artist currently living and working in Toulouse, France. After 25 years as an advertising executive, he devoted himself to art and photography in 2018. François Bonnel creates art in an improvisational way, exploring various techniques and media in the process, often using digital media, photography and collage techniques. The passionate joy of art is evident everywhere in his work, where the frankness and simplicity of line, shape, and color dissipate the message, freeing and purely unleashing his passion for art. His works are in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museum, Louis Vuitton (New York), L’Oréal, and Longchamp.
François Bonnel believes that "painting is a pure pleasure, I do not paint to transmit a message or a philosophy, it is almost a selfish act". Inspired mostly by his daily environment and the music he listens to, musicality is often embedded in his works, forming a unique personal painting language that expresses personal emotional memories through elements such as shape, color, line, and space. The blank geometric blocks in his works are contrasted with other brightly colored blocks, and the delicate lines and blocks of color form a sharp contrast, soothing and positive emotions are transformed through the overlapping of colors and lines.
Drew Aaron (Art collector)
Exhibitions
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HOPLAND STREET EXHIBITION
GROUP EXHIBITION WITH FORWART GALLERY May 1, 2026Macadam Gallery expands beyond the traditional boundaries of the gallery space and unfolds into the urban fabric of Antwerp. Occupying four adjacent storefronts on Hopland, the project transforms a prominent...Read more -
RESIDENCY AT CABUY PART III : SIDE BY SIDE
GROUP EXHIBITION WITH FORWART GALLERY March 14 - 15, 2026Macadam Gallery presents its residency at Maison Cabuy in Mechelen. The house carries time in its walls. It holds silence, traces of lives, shifting light. Each room has its own...Read more -
FOCUS ON FRANCOIS BONNEL
September 13 - October 31, 2025François Bonnel, paintings, Macadam gallery, artRead more -
THE FOLD
A GROUP EXHIBITION July 1 - September 12, 2025Featuring artists like Ira Svobodová, Jo Hummel, Åsa Johansson, François Bonnel, Sali Muller and Jan Kaláb, The Fold is a dynamic group exhibition that celebrates folding as a powerful force...Read more -
POINT D'ÉQUILIBRE
A solo exhibition by François Bonnel January 30 - February 27, 2025Point d'Equilibre is an invitation to embark on a flowing journey, evoking a sense of wonder and exploration through every exhibited piece. Bonnel's captivating paintings are a reflection of the...Read more -
INVISIBLE INTERACTIONS
A Collective Exhibition by Macadam Gallery October 17 - November 17, 2024'Invisible Interactions' invites you on a journey to the heart of contemporary abstraction, where the boundaries between art and architecture dissolve to reveal new creative perspectives. This exhibition highlights the...Read more -
WHITE FLAG
12 YEARS OF MACADAM'S HISTORY. April 20 - May 11, 2024White Flag is an ode to Macadam's 12 years of existence. A retrospective on more than a decade of creativity. Just like a blank canvas, it is a symbol of...Read more -
Art Miami 2023
December 5 - 10, 2023We are pleased to share that the wonderful works by artists Sali Muller, Jean-Philippe Duboscq and François Bonnel were exhibited by Macadam at Art Miami last December! About the artists:...Read more -
INTERSECTIONS
By Francois Bonnel February 19 - March 19, 2022INTERSECTIONRead more
FRANÇOIS BONNEL
SOLO EXHIBITION
Macadam Gallery is very pleased to present you the new solo show by FRANÇOIS BONNEL.
François Bonnel is the translator of harmony. The conductor of a multitude of colors of which each pigment finds its place on his sheet, the canvas.
The melody begins with a background, the white, different tones of grey or simply the linen of the tissu. Then, the rhythm is accelerating. The colors meet. The sight and hearing connect together. The shapes stand next to each other.
François Bonnel’s work is actually this album that has always followed us. Our fondest memories. The simplicity of a lived moment. A real declaration of love to minimalism. A contemporary tribute which put everyone in chord.
Installation shots
