Sophie Inard

Based in Paris, she joins exhibition on sports at Nerman Museum during FIFA World Cup in Kansas City and presents monumental work in France

NEW YORK – French artist Sophie Inard, based in Paris, presents two major exhibitions in 2026 that consolidate her trajectory in the international contemporary art circuit. Her work consists of wrapping icons of power — sporting equipment, helmets, luxury objects, and design pieces — in handmade crochet, creating tension between symbols of strength and the delicacy of domestic craftsmanship.

The main exhibition of the year takes place from June to December at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, United States. The exhibition “Sport and Spectator” coincides with the FIFA World Cup being held in the city and brings together Sophie Inard and international artists who investigate sport as a site of power, identity, and collective experience. The choice of theme and timing highlights the dialogue between contemporary art and one of the planet’s largest sporting events.

Previously, from February to April, Inard presents a monumental work at the Biennale Objet Textile at La Manufacture de Roubaix, France — an event dedicated to experimental textile practices. The work explores the transformation of powerful sporting symbols through textile intervention.

The artist uses a technique historically linked to intimacy and the domestic environment to intervene in objects associated with spectacle, function, or authority. A soccer ball remains a soccer ball. A chair remains a chair. But their symbolic charge shifts. The objects, softened but not neutralized, oscillate between vulnerability and resistance.

Her work moves fluidly between art, fashion, and design. It has been exhibited at the McNay Museum in San Antonio, United States, and in contemporary art galleries, in addition to fashion collaborations, runway presentations, and editorial projects.

Awards and Collaborations

Inard was selected for the first edition of the Bastille Art Prize, an annual award recognizing contemporary artists with a strong conceptual approach and distinctive artistic language. From January 15 to February 21, 2026, Galerie Bessaud in Paris presents the winners, chosen by a professional jury. The gallery supports the development and visibility of their work through exhibitions and curatorial guidance. In addition to Inard, the prize selected works by Clara Tournay, Laura Mateare, Valentine Dardel, Valentina Grilli, and Anne-Juliette Deschamps.

Among her collaborations, the creation of a limited edition for Harley-Davidson Paris Bastille stands out, featuring motorcycle helmets, baseball bats, and skateboards wrapped in crochet. The encounter between Harley bikers and her delicate granny squares explores the tension between rebellion and tenderness.

She was invited to participate in the fashion show organized by UAMEP (Union pour une Autre Mode Est Possible) at the Palais Galliera, Paris’s fashion museum, where she presented five pieces on the runway. She has also done fashion photoshoots for Diesel and The Frankie Shop.

Projects with Artisans and Cinema

For the iconic concept store Merci in Paris, Inard created a series of glass apothecary bottles, whisky jars, and detergent cans wrapped in handmade crochet nets, transformed into poetic vases. The production brought together a group of retired women artisans who created 150 unique pieces in just a few weeks.

In 2023, she was invited to design the trophies for the international short-film festival “Les Regards de l’ICART,” whose theme was “The Senses.” She chose to wrap cinema clappers in crochet, bringing together sound, sight, and touch in a single object.

Currently, she is developing a new body of work focused on modern design icons, such as Panton and Tolix chairs, extending her exploration of power, function, and memory into the history of industrial design.

Website: https://sophieinard.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophie.inard