Jean Petitpas (b. 1979, Chile)

Jean Petitpas is a Chilean artist, born in 1979, whose practice engages deeply with the sculptural possibilities of metal and wood. Educated as an architect at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, where he graduated in 2005, Petitpas' training is evident in the structural precision and spatial sensibility of his work. Early in his career, he collaborated with sculptor José Balcells, an experience that further informed his engagement with materials and form.

Petitpas' sculptural language is grounded in a profound exploration of mass, weight, and spatial tension. His works often consist of geometric and architectonic forms, where solid elements and voids are orchestrated to articulate space as an active component of the sculpture. The juxtaposition of metal and wood — materials with contrasting connotations of industry and nature — becomes a means for Petitpas to investigate balance, rhythm, and the expressive potential of matter.

His approach draws on legacies of 20th-century abstraction, where the concern is not solely with the object, but with how it animates the space it occupies. Petitpas' works resonate with a sculptural tradition that treats structure as a generator of spatial and emotional response, creating objects that suggest both architectural stability and sculptural openness. The interplay of gravity, tension, and equilibrium in his compositions invites viewers to engage with them not just visually but physically, through movement and shifting perspectives.

Petitpas continues to contribute to the evolving field of contemporary sculpture in Chile, developing a distinctive body of work that bridges architecture, material experimentation, and formal abstraction.