Antoine Dufilho: a French contemporary artist to watch in 2025
A career rooted in the visual arts, medicine and architecture
Antoine Dufilho was introduced to the visual arts as a child by his great-uncle Jacques Dufilho, an actor, painter and sculptor. This openness to art marked the beginning of an atypical itinerary, nourished by scientific rigor and formal intuition. Antoine knows all about these intersecting disciplines, where form emerges from structure, emptiness and internal dynamics.
He began studying medicine in Lille, attracted by the mechanics of the body. But he soon found himself drawn to creation. He abandoned this path to enter the Lille School of Architecture and Landscape Design, where he was led towards a new approach to sculpture. There, he discovered a way of thinking of matter as a space in tension, where framework becomes language.
His work with frameworks, accentuated by alternating symmetries, voids and solids, leads to a spatial reading of form. After graduating, he set up a self-designed studio using shipping containers. It was from here that he would devote his energies to creating an autonomous sculptural vocabulary, between automobile, technique and movement.
From Bugatti to Porsche: a family passion transformed into a work of art
The bond between Dufilho and Bugatti goes beyond admiration. Antoine’s great-uncle, a Bugatti collector, passed this passion on to him. Antoine began by sculpting a Tcype 35 in aluminum, a material he used for its lightness and ability to reflect light. He applied longitudinal cutting to break down the bodywork and create a stylized skeleton.
Monumental works such as Red Racing Flower (Ferrari 330 P4) or Velocity (inspired by the Veyron) show how movement is created by this fragmented representation. By exposing alternating plates, he decomposes the car while retaining the dynamism of the overall form. Visual acceleration or deceleration depends on the viewer’s movement.
With Chameleoninspired by the Porsche 910, he goes one step further. Each plate is painted blue on one side and yellow on the other. The eye reveals an intermediate green color, depending on the light. It’s a different interpretation depending on one’s vantage point. This kinetic approach allows the static object to transform without moving.
Technique, materials and experimentation
Antoine Dufilho is a self-taught French sculptor. He uses techniques such as welding, molding and cutting to materialize successive layers and give birth to dynamic volumes. Aluminum, stainless steel and corten steel become his expressive tools. He experiments with different techniques to reveal the inner tensions of a structure.
The void is not a neutral space: it’s an integral part of the sculpture. The viewer is invited to wander around, recomposing the whole in his or her own rhythm. In Agility, a tribute to the Type 35, the organically organized plates evoke speed. In La Dolce Vita, the rough patina of the metal mingles with the reflection of mirror polish, revealing a succession of contrasts.
His approach to art involves breaking down masses to reconstruct their dynamics. Each creation imposes a moving, almost temporal reading. Antoine’s work is thus based on a kinetic vision of a static object, provoking an acceleration effect simply by varying the point of view.
Antoine exhibits in France, Paris and beyond
The artist has been exhibiting for over a decade. He is represented in galleries in Paris, Lille, Le Touquet, Marseille and Biarritz, as well as in Geneva, Miami, London, Knokke-Heist and Vancouver, and has exhibited in Le Mans, La Baule, Megève and Honfleur. In June 2022, his Formula One sculpture will be installed at the French Grand Prix.
The Bugatti Atlantic is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum, next to one of the last two actual models. Peter Mullin is the collector. Jean Todt owns three creations and has just commissioned two monumental works. Antoine exhibits in a variety of contexts, from the La Baule casino to classic car showrooms.
To find out more about his sculptures, news and biography, visit the artist’s official website.
Antoine Dufilho in 2025: towards new formats and materials
In 2025, Antoine continued his work on the representation of movement. He creates pieces inspired by models such as the Ferrari, Porsche 356 or DS Techeetah, exploring the eye’s ability to construct movement from fixed form. The artist’s approach to sculpture is informed by architecture, mechanics and the idea of trajectory.
Antoine is preparing a newsletter to unveil a succession of new works, some of which are expected in June. He is developing new plates, new curves and depth effects. The viewer is invited to plunge into the art, to walk through the sculpture, to recompose it from his or her own movements.
On social networks, via his Instagram or his Facebook accountaccount, Antoine shares behind-the-scenes stories of his creation. His aim is to broaden access to his work, while strengthening his ties with classic car collectors. For several years, this loyal audience has accompanied his artistic approach, which combines a passion for mechanics and a quest for art.
Today, Antoine Dufilho is an emerging artist who embodies a new generation of French sculptors. He strives to offer a demanding sculptural vision, somewhere between technical precision and minimal aesthetics. What he presents is not a fixed object, but a perceptive trajectory, constructed between emptiness and the gaze, between structure and intuition.