last update - september 2025
b.1999, Tristan Chinal-Dargent lives and works in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
« Drawing might be like deciding not to make a film or write a book. It might be like a lie : the lie of saying you don’t want to say. A lie that is prepared and anticipated. »
Tristan primarily explores drawing, painting, writing and video, developing a body of work deeply rooted in the landscapes and narratives of the regions where he grew up, from Maurienne to Vercors (French Alps). His practice alternates between fieldwork and studio-based creation, aiming to question our relationship with "nature", violence, revolt, family, childhood, and otherness — whether human or non-human.
His work has been featured in solo exhibitions and residencies at venues such as La BF15 (Lyon), Moly Sabata (Sablons), Les Limbes (Saint-Étienne), the Abbaye Royale de Fontevraud, the Bouvet-Ladubay Art Center (Saumur), the Centre d'Art Bastille (Grenoble), La Serre (Saint-Étienne) and Les Ateliers Vortex (Dijon).
Alongside his artistic practice, Tristan is the founder of Malus Rivus, a high-altitude research base located in Orelle (French Alps). For the past three years, this project has hosted six artists every summer for a time of exchange, creation, and rest in the mountains.
SOLO-SHOWS,
NOBODY CARES THAT PARROTS CAN TALK, 2025, les Ateliers Vortex, Dijon - FR
PRISONER'S CINEMA, 2025, La Serre, Saint-Etienne - FR
RUNAWAY HORSES, 2024, Centre d'Art Bouvet-Ladubay, Saumur - FR
AS AN OWL IN THE DAYLIGHT, 2024, La BF15, Lyon - FR
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (ou pourquoi tout le monde a mal au dos), 2024, Les Limbes, Saint-Etienne - FR
RESIDENCIES,
RESIDENCE VORTEX, July/august 2025, Dijon - FR
ABBAYE ROYALE DE FONTEVRAUD, june/oct 2024 - FR
MOLY-SABATA, april/may 2024, Sablons - FR
MALUS RIVUS, 2023, research base in altitude, Orelle - FR
RESIDENCE COLLECTIF PORTAIL, 2021, Chagny - FR
GROUP-SHOWS
57e Prix Internationale de Novembre à Vitry, 2025 - FR
CUI-CUI, 2025, 4x3, Lendroit éditions, Rennes - FR
FRIEZE #3, 2025, Ample Contemporary Art Space, Amplepuis - FR
BAVRAGE, 2025, Saint-Etienne - FR
ARPENTAGE, 2024, Centre d'Art Bastille, Grenoble - FR
ONCE WE ENTER NIGHT, 2023, ESBANM, Nantes - FR
BISOUS DES MONTAGNES, 2023, curation by Jun Ya Li, from Orelle to Saint-Etienne - FR
INVISIBLE INCENDIE, 2023, Salle des cimaises, Saint-Etienne - FR
I’M OBSESSED WITH TRINKETS, 2023, Espace Topic, Genève - CH
ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS, 2022, Galerie Paradise, Nantes - FR
JULIETTE BERTRAND & TRISTAN CHINAL-DARGENT, 2022, espace Larith, Chambery, FR
DES TROUS DANS LES MURS, 2021, espace Claude Foret, Chagny - FR
MOSAÏQUE DES LEXIQUES #17, 2020, Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers - FR
THE INTERNATIONAL PHOTO FESTIVAL OF ICHEON MARINE, 2019, Incheon - SK
LE QUOTIDIEN PREND FORME, 2018, Espace Larith, Chambery -FR
EDUCATION
DNSEP avec félicitations du jury, École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Métropole, 2022
DNA, École Supérieure d’Art et de Design Grenoble-Valence, 2020
FIELDWORKS
research work with falconers and naturalists, 2024, Forez - FR
research work with horses breeders, 2024, Saumur - FR
research work with sheperds, 2021, Belledonne - FR
PUBLICATION
JOURNAL DES LABORATOIRES / MOSAIQUE DES LEXIQUES, 2021-2022
UN CAILLOU DANS LA CHAUSSURE, auto-produit, 2022
ACQUISITION
COLLECTION ARTDELIVERY, École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Métropole, FR, 2022
COLLECTION LNH, La Nantaise Habitation, Nantes, FR, 2022
TEACHING
CONFERENCE at the École Supérieure d'Art de Grenoble, 2025
WORKSHOP at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Nantes Métropole, 2024
WORKSHOP Art-Cheval des écolier.e.s (with kids), Saumur, 2024