Arik Levy’s Picturesque Sculpture Park Opens on the French Riviera

When the prolific artist Arik Levy and his wife, fellow artist Zoe Ouvrier, sought to relocate from their longtime home of Paris to a quiet house in the French countryside, they landed on a picturesque estate on Côte d’Azur. Nestled within a forested idyll in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, the property is pure Mediterranean bliss: three acres of luxuriant landscapes, walking distance to the sea and Préalpes d’Azur hiking trails, and towering cypresses sequestering a soaring garden house-turned-studio that once belonged to ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem. 

Far from retreating into seclusion, Levy has been hard at work transforming his family’s new estate into a walkable sculpture park that’s open to the public. Situated throughout the swath of gardens and olive groves are his signature Rock sculptures, which look perfectly at home among the manicured grounds of cypresses, fig trees, lavender, and agapanthus. It’s a logical pairing: Levy’s artworks experiment with natural geometries—they often resemble totems of monumental gemstones—that prompt reflection and abstract inquiry into how we interact with nature.

On view are multiple works that riff on these themes: RockGrowth Root Corten, which mimics the blooming of a minimal flower; LogSlice, which comprises a honeycomb-like structure of mirror-polished stainless steel that reflects and refracts the surrounding gardens; CraterStoneCell, whose burnished copper surface juxtaposes the wild green flora; the metallic burst RockGrowth and RockStoneMesh, built using transparent mesh that allows for the abundance of plant life to be visible at its core, growing and weaving itself into the structure over time. 

“The sculpture park is an extension of my mind, of my lab, a ground for exploration,” Levy tells Surface. “It’s a place where sculptures grow and take roots, a place where I learn about myself and the way my sculptures interact with their surroundings, and a place where dialogue develops between people, my work, and nature. We’re only starting to feel in harmony with the place and its shifting energy. Time will tell how this place has influenced our work, and how consciously or unconsciously it has enriched us.”