Atlas of Living Water

Christophe Monteil is a French artist and international reporter with 20 years of field experience at France Télévisions, one of France's major public broadcasting groups. Specialised in image and visual reporting, he has worked on leading programmes — notably Des Racines et des Ailes — covering stories across every continent.

His artistic practice was born from this double life: the observing eye of the reporter, and the creative impulse of someone who has witnessed, up close, both the beauty and the fragility of the world.

He began painting with waters from around the globe — icebergs from Greenland, sacred lakes of Rajasthan, salted foam of the Cyclades — developing a unique rust-on-steel technique refined over a decade.

An encounter with international artist JR in a Rio favela, and the influence of street artist Vhils, crystallised his artistic direction: raw materials, figuration, and direct engagement with the world as subject.