Thomas Bossard

Grosse fatigue

Thomas Bossard was born in 1971 in Poitiers, France, to a large and creative family. His mother fostered his interest in art since an early age, bringing Thomas to various museums where he discovered, most memorably, the works of Fernand Léger. Drawing became his way of communicating with the world and teachers, recognizing his talent, encouraged him to enroll at a university to study Fine Arts. Upon graduation, Bossard did not set out to be an artist but instead plunged himself into various creative fields: he had worked in publicity, illustration, production of porcelain, and the animation and film, until finding his home at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse where he became a scenographer. As Bossard explains, the most important goal for him was always to exercise his imagination at every occupation he held. Thomas Bossard remembers his more than a decade-long tenure at Théâtre du Capitole fondly: the opera house became a place of encounter of wonderful individuals, passionate about their work, who were later transformed into characters of his paintings: singers, stage directors, choreographers, and actors. An easy-going and convivial person, Bossard did not have difficulties forming creative partnerships. Nonetheless, when his urge to create independently took over, he left the theater to explore and, perhaps, relive the world of performance through the prism of his own eyes and wit. A very special place in his work is reserved for two seemingly different fields of dance and culinary art: the former speaks of memories of seeing his own daughter transform from a clumsy child into a gracious ballet dancer, the latter is a testament to his decades-long friendship with a chef and restaurant owner in sunny Toulouse. Regardless of the subject matter, Bossard injects his works with humor and, as he hopes, optimism. Exhibits in Paris, Toulouse, and throughout France.UK, London, NEC Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh.