Antoine Graff

Antoine Graff — Sculptor of Crumpled Paper
Full name: Antoine Graff
Nationality: French

Artistic movement: Abstraction, art of folding and crumpling, contemporary sculpture
Artistic career
Antoine Graff is a French artist who has established himself as the master of crumpled and folded paper. After studying at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and working in the studios of masters such as Zadkine and André Lhote, he began with painting before feeling the need to go beyond the medium. He then explored advertising, art publishing, and gallery work, rubbing shoulders with major figures like César, Arman, and Villeglé.
Very quickly, folding and crumpling became his plastic language. He transforms paper and fabric into vibrant, sculpted surfaces where chance and material dictate the rules. Based between Alsace and Nice, he has developed a body of work that lies between painting, sculpture, and installation—at the intersection of abstraction and the everyday.
Major works
Le Ray: Monumental 5-meter sculpture erected in Nice, a tribute to the stadium of the same name.
Monade Bleue: A wall piece in fiberglass and pigments, exploring relief and light.
I am Batman: A wall sculpture playing with material and contemporary iconography.
Le Cœur Froissé: A variation on folding as an emotional and poetic motif.
Series of crumpled papers and fabrics: constant exploration of material, folds, and textures, where chance becomes the creator.
Style and influences

Graff plays with the accidents of matter: crumpling, folding, and distorting to create abstract landscapes. Paper becomes skin, fabric, geology. His work evokes both the everyday transformed into art and the poetry of simple gestures. The fold, a fragile and ephemeral element, becomes an eternalized artwork in fiberglass, pigments, or resin.
Quote

"The presence of a crumpled paper — that’s all."