NEW YORK, NY.- From 14 November to 16 January 2016,
Galerie Vallois America presents "Perfect Present ", an exhibition of French artist Stéphane Pencréac'h, born in Paris in 1970. Pencréac’h completed his university studies with a concentration in history which is the basis for most of the themes explored by the artist in his body of work.
In France, prestigious institutions exhibit his work: the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris (2002), the Institute of the Arab World (2015), the Nice MAMAC (2014) (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) and at the esteemed Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul de Vence (2013).
“Perfect Present ", his first exhibition in New York comprises a selection of mixed media paintings and sculptures of large and small formats.
With painting, Stéphane Pencréac'h observes the crises and wars that are reshaping the world today. He believes that we are living during a turning point in history and examines how humankind behaves. His great mastery of technique contributes to the violence of his paintings.
"All Along the Watchtower" 1, 2, 3, evokes this awareness by paying tribute to the legendary Bob Dylan song (1967) and his poetic vision of the apocalypse.
The exhibition starts with a painting entitled "Staring at the enemy" and continues with a bronze entitled "Worshiping a new Kind of God" evoking religious obscurantism.
All works refer to the current world, to the "Body of evidence", eternal image of the lying and victims to "Deposition," a work from 2009, which shows a fallen child's body on a beach.
Sculptures such as "The plot" or "Retaliation 1" and "2 Retaliation," "Dark Age" or "Aftermath" punctuate the course as news of bombings punctuate our daily lives, plunged into war and terrorism.
Fascinated by antiquity which he studied within the format of a classical European education, Stéphane Pencréac'h deals with mythology in his sculpture. These include for example Tiresias, the blind Theban prophet in the Odyssey whose help Odysseus seeks in the underworld or the Fury, Tisiphone – the avenger of murder, (see page 5) ... Indeed, the blind Theban soothsayer Tiresias sadly predicted the future and Tisiphone symbolizes fury that unfortunately destroys the world.
Moreover, Pencréac'h reactivates the beauty of Greek and Roman imago (wax masks), using traditional bronze casting techniques. In addition, he explores new techniques by abusing his bronze works to achieve a new appearance and textural quality. He works with the prestigious foundry Bocquel in France.
The labyrinth metaphor unmistakably sums up the work and the intention of the artist.
Pencréac' h looks at man placed in the center of a world which he has fashioned but whose meaning escapes him every day a little more, desperately seeking a way out but can only be a witness to his quest.
By reintroducing the strength of mythology in the interpretation of our present, the artist forces us to be aware of history in the making and of the place we occupy...
