Ugo Schildge (b. 1987, Paris) graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2014. Trained by Giuseppe Penone and later working as an assistant to Bernard Moninot, Schildge developed an early interest in the relationship between image, movement, and perception, which continues to shape his practice today.
Movement and transformation sit at the core of his work. Initially drawn to the cogwheel as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution and mechanical power, Schildge explored how systems of motion can generate and reinvent images. In more recent works, these mechanical forms evolve into gestural “brushstrokes,” opening his practice toward organic references and broader reflections on nature and the human presence.
Material experimentation plays a central role in Schildge’s process. He combines natural pigments, clay, and plaster, allowing their interactions to remain partially unpredictable. Rather than resisting this uncertainty, he integrates it into the work, using imbalance and variation as tools to test form, structure, and equilibrium.
By questioning traditional formats and blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture, surface and volume, control and chance, Schildge invites viewers into a shifting space between figuration and abstraction, intention and intuition. His work has been exhibited in galleries and art institutions across France, Canada, Brazil, and the United States.