Salon d'art contemporain – Metamorphose 2025–2026, Paris
Returning to the Halle des Blancs Manteaux for the 2025–2026 edition of MÉTAMORPHOSE, Arnaud Quercy presented an expanded body of work that deepened the dialogue between his synesthetic paintings and sculptural practice. With significantly more exhibition space allocated this year, the presentation offered visitors a more immersive encounter with Quercy's dual investigation into the translation of sound into visual form and the metamorphic potential of reclaimed materials. The annual salon, now firmly established as a winter highlight of the Parisian contemporary art calendar, brought together artists whose practices interrogate transformation, material reinvention, and the poetics of the unexpected.
The expanded presentation allowed for a more comprehensive survey of Quercy's Synesthetic Explorations series, with works spanning multiple musical keys and harmonic investigations. Central to this year's showing were pieces from the ongoing "Research on Harmony" series, where each painting corresponds to a specific musical chord—D minor, C major, E flat—translated into visual form through a personal method Quercy terms "ideamorphism." These chromesthetic paintings—born from the artist's perception of tonal relationships, melodic contours, and rhythmic structures—transform the invisible architecture of music into layered abstractions that pulse with chromatic energy. The additional wall space enabled visitors to experience the full spectrum of Quercy's color-sound correspondences, from the contemplative depths of minor keys to the luminous clarity of major tonalities.
This year's presentation marked a significant expansion of Quercy's sculptural presence within the exhibition. The generous floor space accommodated a larger selection of works constructed from recovered metals, salvaged wood, and urban debris collected from the streets of Paris. These sculptures, ranging from intimate tabletop pieces to larger floor-standing forms, embodied the exhibition's central theme with particular eloquence—each work a testament to the alchemical transformation of the discarded into objects of contemplation and aesthetic presence. The dialogue between the two-dimensional synesthetic works and the three-dimensional sculptural interventions created a rich spatial experience that invited visitors to navigate between different modes of artistic metamorphosis.
The juxtaposition of these bodies of work within the historic venue revealed the conceptual unity underlying Quercy's practice. Whether translating auditory phenomena into visual composition or elevating abandoned materials into sculptural form, his art consistently explores the liminal space between states—sound and sight, waste and worth, structure and spontaneity. MÉTAMORPHOSE 2025–2026 provided an ideal context for this expanded presentation, situating Quercy's investigations within a community of artists committed to the transformative power of artistic vision and the poetry of material reinvention.
Artist Statement
For MÉTAMORPHOSE 2025–2026, I returned to the Halle des Blancs Manteaux with an expanded presentation that allowed me to explore more fully the relationship between my synesthetic paintings and sculptural work. The additional space offered an opportunity to create a more immersive dialogue between these two aspects of my practice.
"What if chords had colors? Stand here. The answer is yours to create."
My Synesthetic Explorations continue to investigate the translation of musical experience into visual form. Each painting emerges from my perception of harmonic structures, tonal relationships, and rhythmic patterns—making visible the invisible architecture of sound. Through a process I call "ideamorphism," I translate specific musical chords into visual compositions where color, gesture, and form carry the emotional weight of their sonic origins. This year, I was able to present a broader range of these chromesthetic investigations, allowing visitors to experience the full spectrum of color-sound correspondences that guide my work.
The expanded floor space permitted a more substantial sculptural presence. These works, constructed from materials salvaged from Parisian streets—discarded metals, weathered wood, urban debris—embody the exhibition's ethos of metamorphosis through their very existence. Each sculpture represents a transformation: matter that was once overlooked, now elevated into objects of contemplation. In both mediums, I explore the tension between structure and intuition, between what is given and what is made, between permanence and flux.
Logistics
Venue: Halle des Blancs Manteaux, 48, rue Vieille du Temple, 75004 Paris (4e arrondissement, Marais)
Dates: 26 December 2025 – 4 January 2026
Opening Hours: Daily 11:00 – 20:00
Vernissage: Friday, 26 December 2025, 18:00 – 22:00
Admission: Free
The MÉTAMORPHOSE salon brings together artists whose practices engage with transformation, reuse, and material reinvention. The historic Halle des Blancs Manteaux, with its generous natural light and flexible exhibition architecture, provides an ideal setting for encountering works that bridge traditional and contemporary approaches to artistic metamorphosis.