Gibus, whose real name is Jean-Baptiste Boutin, is a sculptor self-taught, initially trained in graphic arts and communication. After several years as an art director in advertising, he undertakes a trip around the world, driven by the search for what he lacks to fully flourish as an artist. From this journey, he returns enriched by encounters and experiences, as one might imagine, but especially with the emergence of a deep desire: to work with wood, by hand.
Through the various woods he shapes, Gibus reveals the truth of the forms that lie dormant in the material. He extracts pure, simple, and just volumes. His sculptures, both powerful and sensitive, strike with their visual impact, while their apparent lightness contrasts with the density of the subjects addressed. His work resembles an almost philosophical gesture, questioning the human condition and allowing the material to express itself freely, in all its truth.
"Gibus's sculptures question by casting a light charged with conjecture on the ephemeral, the fragility, and the contradictions observed by any being who sincerely pays attention to the accents of inner life. While he does not claim to provide answers to the questions he raises, Gibus does not remain at the sterile level of complacent description. His art has this philosophical gesture in that it elaborates the question to manifest its irritating clarity."
A. Chepeau - Professor of Philosophy