The following article is reprinted from Accrochages, the international monthly magazine for art galleries and museums.

Issue #218, June 2020

“I was born into a family where art occupied a special place. Music, painting, literature were part of my daily life. The cultural richness of this environment undoubtedly contributed to develop my artistic sense.” If he was lucky enough to fall into the pot from an early age, Jean-Jacques Porret nevertheless led his career away from the traced tracks, and abroad, moreover.

“When I was very young,” he said, “I started to cut wood.” But, to secure his back, he studied engineering. When these are over, he decides to cast off: he leaves for New York to learn English and build a new professional life. Very quickly, however, he deviated from his course. A series of meetings with sculptors who want to satisfy his quest for knowledge make him want to try this discipline. “Bronze immediately appealed to me: it is a material that responds to the sculptor's hand, which offers a soft touch. The lost wax technique also attracted me because it is the most demanding. It is slow and involves several stages. It has its roots in history and it only survived because of the results it allows.”

After moving to Chicago, he visits museums around the world, absorbing all he can, manages to break into the workshops of several of the most famous sculptors of the time - Pomodoro, Chillida, Etrog, Henry Moore. He asks questions, looks, learns on the job in contact with these masters. Back in his workshop, he experimented, tirelessly working on the material, laying the groundwork for his future artistic approach. Years later, for the sake of perfectionism, he even went so far as to buy a granite and marble company in order to have total control over the production of his works. This hall is still used as a workshop today.

Continuing his research, he began to incorporate marble and granite into his bronzes, to the point that these elements took an increasingly important place in his creative process (his most recent pieces are there to testify). “I work without preconceived ideas, following my instinct, one form while bringing another, until the motif is simply a rhythm in space. If my approach seems figurative, he specifies, I do not aim for a reproduction of the human form: what interests me is to transmit an abstract feeling or an idea rather than an image of reality. I use recognizable forms to arouse an emotion, to give birth to sensations. I consider myself, in fact, an impressionist.”

Free, in his head and in his gesture, Jean-Jacques Porret was quickly recognized by the profession and the public. Among other distinctions, he was responsible in particular for making a bronze sculpture for the American-Swiss friendship award and his works can be found today in numerous collections in Europe, Japan and the United States.