Paul Duncombe is a visual artist and winner of the COAL 2020 prize. He explores the different scales of the landscape through a singular reflection on the interactions between human beings and nature. His successive researches, on the Labrador ice floes, the storms of the Celtic Sea, the boreal forests, or the irradiated lands of Fukushima, aim at the contingent mechanisms that link these vast territories with the creatures that develop there and the infinitesimal elements that compose them.
Starting with photographic work in situ and then a series of methodical experiments conducted in the studio or laboratory, his projects put the apparent simplicity of the works of nature in relation to the increasing technicality of modern society. From simple gestures to the most complex monumental installations, between performances, minimal sculptures and on-site interventions, his work crosses borders and disciplines.
A 2014 graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, Paul Duncombe develops and exhibits numerous projects in France and abroad: COAL Prize (Paris, 2020), Nemo Biennial (Le 104, Paris, 2020), ]interstice[ (Caen, 2019 & 2018), Unicorn Center for Art (Beijing, 2018), Salon de Montrouge (Paris, 2018), Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2017), Jeune Création (Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, 2016), Avatar (Coopérative Méduse, Quebec, 2015), Kyoto Art Center (Kyoto, 2012).