This Artist Planted 30,000 Trees—Now He’s Bringing His Forest to Shanghai

French artist Fabrice Hyber’s first solo show in China invites you to explore, not just observe.
2025-05-15 12:00:00
By SmartShanghai Contributor:
Eva Zhai
In Shanghai for over four years now. Fitness lover. Very amateur badminton player. Love reading. Sometimes I write about the little things in this big city.

French artist Fabrice Hyber likes to blur boundaries, between painting and science, art and environment, reason and intuition. His first solo show in mainland China, de la vallée, transforms the Power Station of Art into a playful, questioning, and deeply green world.

Hyber doesn't just paint trees, he plants them. 30,000 of them, actually, in a valley in France he's been reforesting for over 30 years. That same spirit of regeneration and curiosity runs through this exhibition, which brings together over 70 works, including paintings, installations, videos, ceramics, and drawings.

At the heart of it all is l'Homme de Bessines, Hyber's iconic green figure, reimagined in various forms throughout the show. You'll also see large-scale "Prototypes of working objects," chalkboard-like canvases full of scribbled diagrams and spontaneous thoughts, and a new series of hand-painted ceramic tiles created in Jingdezhen specially for this exhibition.

De la vallée isn't a didactic climate sermon, it's more like wandering into someone's wildly imaginative sketchbook. The space is arranged like a walk through Hyber's forested mind: open-ended, layered, and full of surprises. Nature, language, science, and art intersect in ways that invite you to ask questions, not just look for answers.

Throughout the show's run, Power Station of Art will host workshops, talks, and interdisciplinary exchanges with artists, scientists, and philosophers. Admission is 60rmb, don't forget to bring your curiosity.

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