The Michèle Schoonjans Gallery is pleased to present Chaosmos, the first solo exhibition in Belgium by Franco-Belgian artist Mathieu Bonardet. Recently awarded the 2024 Matsutani Prize, Bonardet is known for his rigorous, minimalist drawing practice—until now, exclusively in black and white. Chaosmos marks a turning point: the discreet but decisive introduction of colour.

The title, borrowed from James Joyce, merges “chaos” and “cosmos”—order and disorder—a duality that runs through Bonardet’s work. His drawings explore tensions between structure and slippage, balance and disruption. Originally trained at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, Bonardet constructs his pieces through a methodical process of sketches and studies. Works such as Equal Blocks reflect a collaboration with a mathematician, blending intuition with algorithmic logic.

In Chaosmos, colour becomes a disruptive force. Radiating in tones of yellow and green, it evokes a fragile, unstable energy—suggesting everything from solar flares to radioactive fallout. In contrast to the repetition and control of earlier series like Isometría, these new works embrace intuition, chance, and material resistance. Pastel interacts with graphite in unexpected ways, creating ghostly lines, dense textures, and occasional eruptions of brightness. The result is a body of work suspended between drawing, sculpture, and the trace of movement.

Bonardet’s recent recognition with the Matsutani Prize reflects his continued commitment to a practice where time, repetition, and gesture converge. Chaosmos opens a new chapter—one where the horizon dissolves, and colour reveals both vulnerability and transformation.

Exhibition Texts