SÉRIGNAN.- The Mrac Occitanie's Graphic Arts Cabinet has opened "Cyclogenesis," a compelling monographic exhibition by artist Toma Dutter, running from January 25 to May 25, 2025. This immersive show is the second chapter of a unique collaboration with Lycée Marc Bloch in Sérignan, following Dutter's 2024 residency and "Open Notebooks" exhibition at the school.
Dutter, often described as a "walking artist," uses his deep engagement with nature as the foundation for his work. The exhibition, co-curated by Clément Nouet and Anaïs Bonnel, plunges viewers into landscapes, particularly those of Réunion Island, echoing Dutter's personal experience during Cyclone Bejisa in 2014. "Listening to a surrounding territory, grasping the matter, the earth, the objects of nature, the entire landscape and its mystery in continuous time, implies inhabiting the landscape and the interdependence of its elements and phenomena," Dutter has shared, highlighting his intuitive approach to living with the wild.
"Cyclogenesis" is not a political statement but a profound testament to Dutter's connection to nature. Drawing inspiration from 19th-century ecologist Alexander von Humboldt, Dutter explores the intricate interweaving of all natural forces, including humanity. His work seeks to move beyond an anthropocentric view, aiming to understand how we can truly inhabit the living world. The exhibition also touches on the concept of landscape as understood in Asian thought, focusing on a dynamic field of energies rather than a static "view."
Visitors entering the Graphic Arts Cabinet are immediately drawn into a unique setting that blurs the lines between inside and outside, human construction and wild nature. The exhibition offers two distinct pathways: stepping inside a wooden hut, a symbolic refuge reminiscent of Dutter's own, or venturing "outside" into the exuberance of a tropical landscape grappling with a cyclonic formation. The intense, continuous sounds recorded during the cyclone – wind and the banging of corrugated iron – enhance this immersive experience.
The wooden installation itself suggests the interior of a temporary shelter, with "windows" offering glimpses into drawn animations of vibrant color explosions. This structure acts as a protective barrier from an unpredictable world while simultaneously allowing for a deep immersion into the landscapes beyond. A central drawing, also titled "Cyclogenesis," meticulously depicts the deconstruction of space and the chaotic, yet fascinating, flight of its elements, inviting contemplation on cycles of creation and destruction.
Dutter's architectural research is also presented through a series of elegant, minimalist wooden models. These "open shelters" or "habitat-furnishings," some inspired by Bruno Munari's "Abitacolo" and traditional Swedish stugas, are designed to offer multiple viewpoints and encourage a connection between interior and exterior spaces. One large model, reminiscent of a stage set or a camera obscura, invites further reflection on observation and perception. These structures, though temporary and fragile, symbolize a way to inhabit the world differently, creating "heterotopias" as theorized by Michel Foucault – "other places" that blend reality with imagination.
In the second part of the exhibition, visitors are fully immersed in nature. Drawing from his 2014 residency on Réunion Island, Dutter translates the lush, contrasting environments of the Mafate cirque onto large canvases and framed drawings. His recurring motif of the selenicereus, a tropical cactus, symbolizes the resilience of vegetation against powerful winds. Dutter's preferred medium, watercolor, allows for direct, "alla prima" painting, capturing the authenticity of emotion and a sense of timelessness in his fictional landscapes.
As Marielle Macé noted, "Huts built in renewed listening to nature... in the imagination of other ways of saying 'we.'" Toma Dutter's "Cyclogenesis" serves as an allegory for the fragility of life and proposes an alternative way of coexisting with our planet's powerful, ever-changing forces.
