In The Noise of Shadows, Yoann Penard unveils a constellation of silent idols emerging from a liminal realm where mythology, folktales, and ancient remnants converge. Created between 2021 and 2025, these sculptures form a fragmented pantheon — a gathering of hybrid, enigmatic beings whose silhouettes seem to rise out of immemorial time to inhabit and haunt our present. Each figure appears suspended between worlds, shaped by echoes of stories passed down, reinterpreted, and distorted across centuries and cultures.
Drawing from these shifting narratives, Yoann’s creations evoke spirits, archetypes, chimeric bodies, and subterranean guardians. They appear as much like vestiges of forgotten civilizations as they do vessels for whispered voices from occult traditions. Their presence is both quiet and commanding, suggesting forms that slip between shadow and substance, myth and memory.
Presented as part of the La Setmana Santa festival — an event devoted to gothic and esoteric cultures — the exhibition resonates with particular force. Within this context, the sculptures act as thresholds, mediators between the visible and the invisible. They invite viewers to step into a space where ancient beliefs collide with the fragile light of contemporary imagination. Through this gathering of spectral idols, Yoann prompts us to reflect on our enduring need for figures of reverence, our fascination with the darker folds of myth, and our desire to materialize what continually eludes our grasp.
‘The Noise of Shadows’
Exhibition Dates: December 4, 2025 – January 10, 2026
Galerie Pol Lemétais
24 rue du Rempart Saint Étienne, 31000 Toulouse / France
Poem from Yoan Penard’s book
Je n’ai pas fini d’espérer
infatigable comme une araignée vigilante
je guette pour les retenir
dans ma toile quotidienne
les joies du soir et du matin
qui filent à toute vitesse
Tant pis pour les chagrins et les douleurs
et les emmerdements
qui passent lentement
et qui s’accrochent
Oui mais voilÃ
je sais que je dois chaque jour
chaque heure
m’avancer vers cette falaise
et vers ce grand trou sans fond
je me retourne souvent
et j’aperçois très loin
le brouillard de ma naissance
Je suis le nomade qui marche la nuit
et qui attend le jour et l’oubli
Philippe Soupault, 1897-1990
We’re thrilled to share that there’s a special event happening this Friday, December 12, 2025 at 6 PM! Join Yoann Penard for an after-work gathering with La Setmana Santa at the beautiful Pol Lemetais Gallery, where you can explore the artworks up close, meet fellow art lovers, and enjoy an inspiring evening immersed in creativity.
Whether you’re visiting for the first time or returning for another look, Friday’s event is the perfect moment to connect, unwind, and celebrate contemporary art in all its depth and emotion. We hope to see you there!
About Yoann Penard //
Born in 1976, Yoann Penard has been sculpting for over two decades, beginning with stone before discovering his affinity for modeling, ceramics, metal, and bronze. Based near Bordeaux since 2000, he has exhibited widely in major French venues devoted to expressionism and the fantastical. His work is permanently featured at the Naïa Museum, and he received both the May Fair Prize and the Coubertin Foundation Prize in Paris in 2010. In 2021, he completed his first public commission for the city of Libourne.
Working through a personal creative ritual that blends clay modeling, acrylic resins, metal, and bronze, Yoann continues to build a distinctive universe at the borders of contemporary sculpture. His pieces are represented by Keep Contemporary Gallery, O Gallery, Naïa Museum, and La Monstrueuse Galerie. Deeply inspired by primitive arts, mythology, fantasy, and speculative worlds, he draws from these imaginative realms to illuminate fragments of our shared, universal narrative.
