SEBASTIEN LEON AGNEESSENS is a French-born, New York–based pluri-disciplinary artist whose work pushes collectible design into the worlds of experimentation and illusion.

Known for his sculptural furniture, glass manipulation, and sonic sculptures, Léon creates pieces that feel at once primeval and futuristic, functional and magical — tables that appear to hover, mirror surfaces that turn transparent, resin chairs carrying the texture of leather. Through his practice every object is conceived as both a functional design and a work of magic.

Inspired by the model of the Renaissance studio, Léon approaches design as a practice of perpetual invention. Glass is silvered, marbled, or deformed until it transcends its material logic; welded chains coil with serpentine tension; fiberglass becomes inscribed with cryptic alphabets.

Born in Blois (France), the hometown of Robert-Houdin - the father of modern magic - and the final residence of Leonardo da Vinci, Léon’s work carries this lineage of illusion and invention. Each one of his creations is a conjuring act: an object that reveals itself through transformation.

Léon received an MBA from Bocconi (Milan), and started his career by pioneering the movement of curating contemporary art for brands through his agency Formavision. His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Surface, ID, Corriere della Sera, and NHK Japan.

Léon is the recipient of the 2019 Fashion Group International Rising Star Award and the 2024 Galerie Magazine Creative Mind Award.