From 01/12/22 to 01/02/23, three artists with singular techniques on the theme of (de)construction will be presented in the galerie 208 : Martine Poppe, Olivier Kosta-Théfaine and Deniz Bedir.
In this exhibition (De)construction we have three artists from very different backgrounds. They speak to us on the occasion of this curation of creative and/or destructive cycles that push back the boundaries of reality.
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Firstly, the Norwegian artist Martine Poppe stages surrealistic landscapes by taking the opposite approach to the traditional art of landscape representation. Her brightly coloured landscapes and skies show an imaginary and fanciful nature. She works with unconventional materials. Indeed photography and textiles are placed behind a translucent canvas. The artist then works with oil paint on it. Her paintings have the effect of an overexposed photo as well as the effect of a pixelated digital image. That’s how Martine Poppe’s works negotiate the boundaries between abstraction and representation.
Born in 1972 in the Parisian suburbs, Olivier Kosta-Théfaine works with matter using a “destructive” technique. He burns the surface of the paper with various tools such as lighter or hot tip. The series entitled “Paysage de banlieue” refers to his youth, and to his past. Although he no longer lives there, he continues to recreate landscapes that have been embellished, enhanced, reconstructed by his mind and emotional memory. Through these reconstructed souvenir landscapes he questions social evolution with the passing of time and also the transformation or destruction he brings.
For several years, the artist Deniz Bedir has been developing his own pictorial process, on the border of sculpture. He uses a construction material: the plaster used on building sites. He mixes it with different pigments. Equipped with a float, he spreads the material in thick layers on large wooden panels placed on the floor. Afterwards in a random manner, Deniz sands down part of the surface that has become solid and leaves other portions bare, creating a random play on textures. Therefore he shows the formation and deformation, the work and accidents of the material. Through his use of plaster, Deniz highlights those who usually handle it : masons and construction workers.
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To conclude these artists try to (de)construct the established order and bring a reflection/inflection on the nature of things that surround us, our daily environment, the society in which we find our place, bringing a reflection on our individuality.
