François Vogel, artist and director from Paris, France. Photography © F. Vogel

1.Tell us what you do and your beginnings.

I am a french artist. I create photographies, short films, installations. My work is about capturing images from reality and distorting them. I was drawing when I was a kid then I played with pinhole photography and now I am mainly using digital tools to do my art.

2.What are your favorite museums in the world? Why?

I haven’t seen so many museums so I am afraid that my favorite ones are still my unknown ones. That being said, I really like the “Jeu de Paume” museum in Paris. It features great art exhibits and it’s a small and not crowded historical building.

The Centre Pompidou in Paris is also one of my favorite. I love the fact that each level is one flat surface wihtout any permanent wall; it can be completely reconfigured! I also like the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo designed by the architectect Lina Bo Bardi. The building is amazing.

3.How important are social networks in your business? And which platform do you prefer and why.

My producer Cathleen O’Conor Stern recommended me to sign up on Instragram a year ago. She believed I would like it although I wasn’t at all into social platforms. She was right! I am now posting little videos and it gives me tons of ideas.

4.What are your future projects? 

Some of my photographs will be exhibited in an art galery in Paris. I look forward to talk about it on my Instagram account and see if it can motivate visitors.

5.To create greater engagement among museums, artists and professionals, do you have any advice for cultural projects such as #MuseumWeek?

Sometimes when I see a piece of art in a museum that moves me, I get a strange feeling of melancholy. As if this emotion was a deep memory of beauty that I had experienced in the real life, not in front of a painting. Museum makes me we want to go out and live more. That’s not a great answer to the question but I am not a specialist (smile).

Interview by Fabio Pariante, journalist

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François Vogel on social networks: InstagramWebSite

François Vogel (Meudon, 1971) is an artist, photographer and director who grew up near Paris. After studying art, his production is divided between communication and advertising, making videos for brands and short films.

Being a camera inventor and virtual camera manufacturer, he plays with our vision, manipulating reality. Winner of numerous awards, Vogel’s world is a visionary world without time and space, in which you have to “immerse yourself” to understand it.

The artist made some of his videos especially during the quarantine due to the covid-19, at his home, with his family, in particular with his cat. François Vogel lives and works in Paris.