Florent Paumelle on 10 Years Leading Galerie Oniris and Vera Molnar's NFT Appeal

Florent Paumelle, director of Galerie Oniris in Rennes, discusses the gallery's 35-year history and his decade at the helm in an interview with artpress. Founded in 1986 by Yvonne Paumelle, Oniris initially had a regional focus but gained national visibility after participating in FIAC in 1995. Paumelle took over in 2012, aiming to internationalize the gallery through foreign art fairs and a strong online presence. He emphasizes price transparency on the website and the continued importance of human interaction in digital sales. The gallery represents two historical groups: geometric abstract artists born in the 1920s-1930s (François Morellet, Vera Molnar, Aurelie Nemours, Norman Dilworth) and abstractionists born in the 1940s-1950s (Claude Viallat, Christian Bonnefoi, Jean-Pierre Pincemin, Alain Clément, Geneviève Asse). Paumelle has gradually renewed the artist roster through a mentorship system where senior artists recommend younger ones, such as François Morellet suggesting Olivier Petiteau and Carole Rivalin, Claude Viallat for Guillaume Moschini, and Philippe Cognée for Frédéric Bouffandeau. Vera Molnar, featured in The Milk of Dreams at the Venice Biennale, has attracted NFT collectors interested in her computer-generated works from the 1970s, though prices remain modest compared to recent NFTs. Paumelle notes that digital tools and changing fair roles make operating from Rennes viable, despite fewer local collectors.