Armel Desrues

Biography

After spending his childhood in Brittany, near Saint Malo, where his father, a cabinetmaker, passed on to him his passion for the matter, Armel Desrues decided in turn to tame the matter.

At the age of 15, he studied at the National Glass School in Auvergne where he learned traditional glass blowing. In his second year, he prepared for the competition for the best apprentice in France at the prestigious Baccarat glassworks, and won the silver medal.

After several internships with craftsmen in France such as Alain Guiot and Martine Durand-Gasselin, he left for Germany to attend a glass school where he discovered another vision of glass, wheel engraving, stained glass and spun glass. During his last year, Armel Desrues met Xavier De Mirbeck in his studio in Belleville, where he discovered Monica Guggigsberg and Phillipe Baldwin. He returned to Paris several times to assist them in the preparation of a retrospective exhibition in Geneva. At the same time, his meeting with the wood sculptor Souliman taught him the importance of drawing.

At the age of 19, he moved to Montreal, Canada, to experiment with a new approach to glass. He trained at the Espace Verre school in a three-year programme focusing on blown glass, but also on glass paste, cold glass and spun glass, which enabled Armel Desrues to broaden his field of knowledge and build his own artistic language. At the end of his second year, he left for Vancouver to work for two months as a glassblower technician.

In 2012, the artist received a grant from the Corning Museum Of Glass located in the United States in the state of New York. He then spent two weeks with Czech artist Martin Janecky to perfect his sculpting techniques. He enrolls in the Royal Academy of design and architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark. Until his brutal disappearance in 2022, he practised his art within the glass artisans' collective Holmegaard Vaerk in Copenhagen. 

Exhibition at the Mayaro Gallery

From 19 October 2022 to 20 January 2023, Mayaro dedicates to Armel Desrues a tribute exhibition. 

Awards

2022: Statens Kunstfond, "Work grants for new talents - crafts and design". 2020: First prize Svaneke Gaarden, Danemark. 2014-2015: Artist in residence Espace Verre, Montréal, Canada. 2014: Artist in residence Dream Community, Taiwan / Prix de la Caisse de la culture, Canada. 2013: Scholarship, class of Martin Janecky, Corning Museum Of Glass, NY, États-Unis. 2008: Silver prize for the best apprentice glass-blower prize, France.

Past Exhibitions

2022: Collective Exhibition Rêver la Matière, Galerie Mayaro, Paris, France. 2021: Maker's dimension, Bornholm Kunstmuseum, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Bygning A gallery, Copenhague, Danemark. 2020: Autonomous Craft Objects, Grønbech Gård, Hasle, Danemark / Svaneke Gaarden, Svaneke, Danemark. 2019: Au coin Desrues, Cancale, France. 2018: Gifted Glass exhibition, National Glass center, Sunderland, Royaume-Uni. 2017: Collection Dream Community, Taipei, Taiwan / SiO2, Espace Verre, Montréal, QC, Canada . 2012 Glass Art Society, student exhibition, Chicago, IL, États-Unis .