Mediateca “Ioana Costaş”

Univers – A Dialogue Between Art and Science Exhibition featuring the works of French artist Bernard Jacques Brisson September 10th – October 2nd, 2026 French Institute Media Library – Upper Floor 22 I.I.C. Brătianu Opening: September 10, 6:00 p.m. Visiting hours: Mon–Fri: 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. The French Institute is inaugurating a new exhibition space on the upper floor of the “Ioana Costaș” Media Library with an exhibition dedicated to the French artist Bernard-Jacques Brisson, organized by the French gallery IGallery in collaboration with Babeș-Bolyai University. The exhibition’s curators are Olga Khlopova, Prof. Tiberiu Harko, Prof. Maxim Khlopov, and Laurence Levasseur. The exhibition is part of the 14th Bolyai-Gauss-Lobachevsky Conference (BGL-2026) on non-Euclidean geometry in modern physics and mathematics and provides a space for dialogue between contemporary art and scientific thought. At the heart of the exhibition is the UNIVERS series, created by Bernard-Jacques Brisson in 2016 following several years of research on form and color. This series has become the central axis and conceptual foundation of his work. The artist’s work resonates particularly well with the conference’s theme through its exploration of space, form, structure, and the relationships between elements. His paintings do not merely illustrate mathematical theories; rather, they propose an alternative, artistic way of reflecting on space and its organization. Art and mathematics thus converge around fundamental questions: How is space structured? How do its elements interact? And how does humanity perceive the world around it? UNIVERS thus becomes a meeting point between artistic imagination and scientific research. Bernard-Jacques Brisson’s international career includes, among other things, participation in “Comparaisons,” the Salon d’Automne, and “Art Capital,” as well as exhibitions at the Taylor Foundation, the Hermitage Museum in Vyborg, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. His works are found in private collections in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, Portugal, and Singapore. The exhibition in Cluj-Napoca thus offers an encounter between two languages of knowledge—art and science—united by a shared exploration of space, form, and the universe. Born in Paris, Bernard-Jacques Brisson pursued his artistic studies at the Frochot Academy. In the late 1990s, he settled in Düsseldorf. He currently lives and works between the Paris region and Germany. In 2016, after several years of research focused on form and color, he launched the UNIVERS series, which has become the central theme of his work. Bernard-Jacques Brisson has participated in numerous exhibitions in France and internationally, including “Comparaisons,” the Salon d’Automne, and “Art Capital,” as well as exhibitions organized by the Taylor Foundation, the Hermitage Museum in Vyborg, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo. He is the recipient of the City of Étampes Prize (2020), the Mennecy Departmental Council Prize (2025), and the Taylor Foundation’s Joël Dabin Grand Prize. His works are held in private collections in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, Portugal, and Singapore