NADA House 2024

For NADA House, 2024, Bienvenu Steinberg & C is pleased to present Los Angeles-based artist, Sebastien Leon Agneessens.

Named after the pioneering hypnotist Franz Anton Mesmer, a theremin-enhanced automaton sits on a guitar amplifier. The sound sculpture, when
activated by a performer, invites viewers into a liminal space of strangeness and unself-conscious play. The figure transcends its physical form to become a distinctive musical instrument. Whether commanding it solo or within improvisational ensembles, the artist harnesses otherworldly sounds to craft mesmerizing sonic scapes that embrace the spirit of unfettered exploration of the drawings surrounding it.

In a suite of mixed media works on paper, Agneessens channels the automatic drawing process popular among André Masson and other Paris Surrealists—itself an expression of the era’s fascination with the nascent field of psychoanalysis and self-realization offered by figures like Carl Jung and Otto Rank. These Psycho Dessins embody the energy of waking dreams—organic color washes spread like waves as energetic ink drawing teases out emergent figures and images from the archetypes of the collective subconscious.

Sebastien Leon Agneessens is known for orchestrating global artistic platforms for brands such as Diesel, Audemars Piguet, or Krug, involving creative talents including Banksy, Run DMC, and François Girbaud, and institutions such as the Whitney Museum, the Palais de Tokyo, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His public commissions include a monumental sonic sculpture for a high-rise building in Istanbul, a geodesic dome with immersive multichannel music for Audi in China, and video and paintings for Samsung televisions.