Themed "Innocence", Penot's show featured different faces of children living in rural Thailand.
"In appearance, these children seem what they are - kids, but from their eyes, you can observe that they have already had the look of an adult," Penot says.
Penot made China his next stop in 2010.
Following his work on Chinese dragons, he is now moving into sculpture - this time with inspiration from the old Chinese markets.
"I am using materials collected from the Qilihe market, a traditional Chinese market in Beijing. People throw these things away but for me, they have a history and I'd like to present my work with things that have a past.
"My inspiration also comes from Chinese calligraphy; the paper people use for calligraphy is quite thin, and similarly I am trying to experiment with paper in my work."
Apart from using newspapers, old posters, plastic bags and wire, Penot is experimenting with Chinese ink, soy sauce and wax in his works.
"I'm being inspired almost every day," he says, "because the environment is so different."
Before coming to China, Penot worked as a designer for Club Med, the French group of vacation resorts. But he quit his job in 2009 to concentrate on his art.
"In China, I have more space to develop my career," he says. "Chinese people actually seem to respect artists more than French people do now. The galleries in China are also big, which can help provide the space required for my work."
Source: China Daily
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