01
Draw
It all begins in the sketchbooks: lines that hesitate, curves that come back, page after page, until the form can stand on its own.
Reliefs · paper · pure pigments
René Galassi
Move the light
(01) — Manifesto
I cut the paper 
, it hesitates, folds, then rises like a breath. With a brush , I lay the pigment down, layer after layer, until the colour turns to velvet. And when the light comes in 
, the shadows write what I never planned. I am searching for something without always knowing what. Sometimes, the work finds me.
1964Born in Lyon
1999First prints
30 yearsOf work
NiceA studio facing the sea
(02) — Overview
Colours,
one material.
Blue, red, yellow, black, white, and more. Each series asks the same question: what becomes of a colour when it leaves the surface and takes on relief?
Discover the colours→
(03) — Who is René
René Galassi
I was born in Lyon in 1964. Today I live in Nice, in a studio where the sea comes in through the window. I taught myself, for a long time, until Henri Baviera handed me printmaking the way you hand someone a key. It has stayed with me since 1999.
From printmaking I kept a taste for paper, the memory of the imprint, the weight of the press. My reliefs carry it further: I cut mould-made paper, I layer it, I emboss it, then I brush on pure pigment, layer after layer, until the paper remembers.
Blue always comes back, like a mother tongue. Red, yellow, black and white answer it. And every day, the same thing surprises me: the work changes with the light.
(03) — Exhibitions & awards
Exhibitions
- 2025Rêve de Saharas — 30 years of workGalerie Parvillé, NiceSolo show
- 2025Visions Black & BlueGalerie Parvillé, NiceGroup show
- 2024Art Shopping — Guest of honourCarrousel du Louvre, ParisArt fair
Studio
(04) — How René works
Nice. A window open onto the Mediterranean, a long table, mould-made paper, jars of pigment.
Everything begins here, by hand, at the pace of the light.
Colour is matter
Pigment
Bare colour, no binder, no varnish.
Powder
A dust of colour, taken by the handful, laid down layer after layer.
Velvet
A deep, matte surface that drinks the light.
Light
Light sculpts the relief, hour after hour.
(04) — The material01 / 04
02
Cut
With blade and ruler, the paper is sliced into strips, arcs and planes. Each cut prepares a shadow to come.
03
Pigment
Pure pigment is laid on with a brush, layer after layer. No paint: the colour keeps its grain, its velvet depth.
04
Press
A legacy of printmaking: under the press, the damp paper takes the shape of the plate. The roller passes, and the form settles into the fibre like a memory.
05
Reveal
The sheet is lifted. The relief appears, white on white, like a breath. The light will do the rest.
(04) — The gesture
It all happens
by hand.
(05) — The colours
The
colours.
A selection of reliefs, from blue to white. As you move on, the background takes on the colour you are passing through.
Keep scrolling →
(06) — Prints
White
on white.
Before pigment, there was printmaking. What remains are these white sheets, without ink: under the press, the damp paper takes the shape of the plate and keeps its imprint. A line sinks in, a form rises, and the shadow does the drawing.
Each print is pulled in a small edition, numbered and signed in pencil.
