17 June to 04 September 2011

‘La Tempête’ (The Tempest) is the second phase of the major two-part exhibition devoted to the work of Pierre Ardouvin, beginning in April 2011 with ‘ La Maison vide’, (The Empty House) which can be seen up until 16 June. This first phase was divided between a large maze-like installation and a collection of fifty drawings made between 1992 and the present day.

From 17 June onwards new works will be added to the exhibition. Looking back at the the first part’s name and pared down mental state of the first part, the second, more spectacular and baroque phase provides an ‘amplified’ vision of the artist’s work, looking at it in a more complete and complex manner. Surrounding the installation and the gallery of drawings which have been on display since April, ten or so large-scale sculptures will enter into the existing space, or move outside it to spread onto other areas of the art centre.

Around the gallery of drawings and the installation of the ‘Empty House’ Pierre Ardouvin collects a group of sculptures which references ranges of decoration and artifice. More widely, they open up the exhibition to the fantastical and the narrative which play a large role in the artist’s work, ‘Ruisseau’ (Stream) and ‘Soleil Couchant’ (Setting Sun) (2005) drawing an artificial, post-apocalyptic nature revisiting the issue of landscape. The ‘Rideau Troué’ (Curtain with Holes) (2010), opens onto the space of fiction rather than concealing it. Playing with perception and conditioning, ‘Les Eclairs’ (Lightning) (2005) blindingly meets us as soon as we enter, underpinning the effect of loss and disorientation set up by the labyrinthine ‘Empty House’. Then The Tempest’s as yet an unseen creation plunges us into the heart of the strange, striking nocturnal vision of an uprooted tree stranded on a lounge chair.

INTERVIEW
You can find Pierre Ardouvin on ARTE CREATIV, the new web platform of the ARTE channel. Series: LA COLLECTION