Poetics of Contrast: Justin Weiler’s Glass Meets Norki’s Leather and Fur
Poetics of Contrast: Justin Weiler’s Glass Meets Norki’s Hides and Fur
Justin Weiler’s works invite us to look beyond the smooth surface of glass and discover its full richness. Far from the coldness one might expect, the lines and angles painted directly on this medium reveal a sensitive precision that structures his compositions. Through transparency, light, and perception, the artist transforms the material into a poetic space where every detail offers a fresh perspective. In this exhibition, his works will engage in conversation with those of Norki — design pieces crafted in leather and fur — creating a striking contrast of materials. One, mineral and luminous; the other, organic and tactile — yet both share the same pursuit of warmth and sensitivity, each revealing in its own way the softness hidden beneath the surface.
Justin Weiler
Justin Weiler, a visual artist born in Paris in 1990, lives and works in his hometown. After studying at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, from which he graduated in 2015, he continued his training at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, earning his DNSAP in 2017 with honors.
In 2019–2020, he was invited for a residency at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, as part of the Académie de France.
Already in 2016, his work was recognized with several awards: he received the Visual Arts Prize from the City of Nantes, the Contemporary Arts Biennale of the CRAC in Champigny-sur-Marne, and the Diamond Grant from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
His works have since been acquired by numerous public and private collections, including the Musée d’arts de Nantes, the FRAC Pays de la Loire, and the Société Générale collection.
Justin Weiler exhibits regularly in France and internationally, notably at the Collection Lambert in Avignon during ¡Viva Villa!, as well as in China, Cyprus, Canada, Dubai, and Luxembourg. In 2022, the Mobilier National acquired three of his works for the creation of two rugs and a tapestry.
In 2023, he was awarded the Yves Saint Laurent World Windows Prize, with his creations presented simultaneously in Saint Laurent stores in New York, Los Angeles, Dubai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Milan, Paris, London, and Seoul. That same year, the Mobilier National commissioned him to create a monumental work installed at the Élysée Palace in February.
Light and Transparency
Essential to painting, light gives life to forms and reveals colours. It structures space and guides the gaze. In Justin Weiler’s work, light seems to emanate from the surface itself, without any identifiable source. The artist does not simply represent light — he captures it actively, using it as raw material.
Painting is no longer a closed surface: it opens, fills with light and movement, and transforms into depth, surpassing the limits of the image to become a perceptual device. A silent dialogue unfolds between the artwork, the light, and the viewer who approaches it — an encounter between the ephemeral and the permanent.
Glass painting never exists in isolation; it awaits the gaze to be completed. With every glance, every presence, it reveals itself a little more. The viewer, moving through space, does not face a static image, nor simply a coloured glass surface. Glass does not assert opacity — its transparency, which is not absence but passage, connects the painter’s hand to the light that unveils it.
In this subtle dialogue, light — elusive companion of transparency — does more than illuminate. It travels through the material, refracts within colour, and settles upon the floor and the walls. Thus, painting becomes a space to be traversed rather than a surface to be contemplated.
Justin Weiler in Gstaad
Exhibited at the Norki Boutique in Gstaad
Exhibition dates: December 20, 2025 – February 28, 2026
Address: Gstaadstrasse 8, 3792 Gstaad Saanen
