DOMINIQUE LABAUVIE Constellations & Acrobats Drawings, Prints and Sculpture
BLEU ACIER OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY MARCH 14, 2008, 6-9 PM DRAWINGS AND PRINTS MARCH 14 TO APRIL 19, 2008
MICHAEL MURPHY GALLERY M OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY MARCH 15, 2008, 6 – 9 PM RECENT SCULPTURE MARCH 15 TO MARCH 29, 2008
Bleu Acier and Michael Murphy Gallery M are pleased to present CONSTELLATIONS & ACROBATS, Recent Drawings, Prints and Sculptures by Dominique Labauvie.
Constellations are figurative images defined by groups of stars, first designated by the Greeks as an extension of their mythological tales, and later used by Europeans in the 17-18th centuries as a critical method to navigate the oceans by sight. Labauvie makes marks in his drawings and sculpture with a similar skill - mapping space between points, and creating form out of the tension between positive and negative space.
Titles such as "The Golden Fleece" and "Arcas and Callisto" allude to these figures, but don't literally define his approach. Whether in lines forged from steel or marks made on paper, Labauvie brings forth his own personal mythology of how to define space through these abstract relationships. Rather than constructing narrative or commemorating history like a statue in a defined territory, his work engages in a contemporary dialogue that pushes the boundaries of three dimensions. He allows the viewer to make their own dimensional "map" of reference - depending on their experience of seeing his forms encompassing their given space - and to existentially contemplate his proposed delineations of their environment.
Labauvie equates the act of making sculpture to the tenuousness of the acrobat walking his rope. Jean Genet, in his text "Le Funambule (The Tightrope Walker)," speaks of the relationship of the artist to his material:
“This love-almost desperate, but charged with tenderness-that you must show for your wire, will have as much strength as the metal wire has to carry you. I know objects, their malignancy, their cruelty, their gratitude, too. The wire was dead – or if you like mute, blind, but now you are here, it will live and speak.” (Translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell)
It's a romantic vision of the artist, certainly, but in the conquest of space, the imagination and power of emotion become allies in the quest for an image. Labauvie considers his process driven by this same paradox, "Everything starts within a certain form of disappearance, of loss. It is as if chaos or despair was the centerpiece of the foundation of the conditions necessary in order to generate the occurrence of the right chemistry to start building my work. Then to find the necessary focus and concentration in order to bring the work out of the doubt generated by all this confusion. Like after a war when all the piles of ruins get pushed over to the side of the road. Creation is born out of this kind of discussion.”
BLEU ACIER INC. is an active fine art print publisher, print atelier, gallery and live-in loft that functions at the intersection of private and public space where art and the city keep company. Bleu Acier exhibits works in all disciplines by emerging, mid-career and established artists from the U.S. and Europe.
BLEU ACIER INC. Gallery Hours: Saturdays 1 – 5 PM and by appt. For further information contact Erika Schneider 109 West Columbus Drive Tampa FL 33602 813. 272. 9746 | bleuacier.com
MICHAEL MURPHY GALLERY M Gallery Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 – 6 PM For further information contact the gallery 2701 S. MacDill Avenue Tampa FL 33629 813. 902. 1414 | michaelmurphygallery.com
