Clémentine de Chabaneix, the Art of Blurring Boundaries
The works of Clémentine de Chabaneix all have the same quality: they systematically give the audience something they didn’t expect, and one look is never enough to exhaust their multi-faceted content. Their appeal is conveyed by very simple things: the apparent softness of enameled ceramics representing young girls with round wistful faces, or furry animals with whose pelts are linked, as in the case of bears, to stuffed toys from our childhoods. But boundaries are often blurry. First, between human and animal. When a young girl is not hiding behind a cat or a wolf mask, she carries a fox on her shoulder or a toad in her hand. And when the mask is not enough any more, she turns into a Chimaera with a donkey or a goat head. Second, between dream and reality. The Chimaera is one example of it, as well as the peaceful coexistence between wild animals and frail young girls. But there are many more, for the works of Clémentine de Chabaneix are peppered with dream references. In her sculptures, her characters ride pets, or use toads as a step, but this change in scale never takes the onlooker aback because of the dreamlike nature of the works. In her drawings, often somber, characters meet their doppelgangers, made of light and darkness, and isolated houses overlook ethereal landscapes where simple silhouettes cast oversized shadows. Finally, between the feelings of the onlookers, who, brought in by the softness of the works, keep looking because of their oddity and slightly out of place feel. More often than not, they have a hard time pinpointing their emotions in front of smooth eye-catching sculptures and mysterious drawings with their gothic-romantic atmosphere that are open to never ending interpretations. This is where their strength reside: the works of Clémentine de Chabaneix go along with any mood swing and the weather outside, but, more importantly, the weather inside.
Jean-Daniel Mohier
Née en 1972 à Neuilly sur Seine, vit et travaille à Montreuil, France
À venir : Domaine du Muy, Parc de sculptures contemporaines - France Galerie Olivier Rousseau, Tours - France Galerie Christine Colon, Liège - Belgique Shapes of wonderland, Comptoir 102, Dubaï - Émirats arabes unis 2018 Solo show, Galerie Antonine Catzéflis, Paris - France Animacopia, Galerie Carole Descombe, Los Angeles - USA Galerie Olivier Rousseau, Tours - France Vendredi 13, Galerie Club Sensible, Paris - France Galerie Christine Colon, Liège - Belgique 2017 Galerie Picot-Le Roy, Morgat - France Galerie Christine Colon, Liège - Belgique Galerie Club Sensible, Paris - France Galerie Antonine Catzeflis, Paris - France Salon PAD (Paris Art Design), Paris - France Trait pour trait, exposition collective de dessins, Galerie Olivier Rousseau, Tours - France 2016 Galerie Christine Colon, Liège - Belgique Galerie Club Sensible, Paris - France Céramiques, Galerie Antonine Catzeflis, Paris - France Galerie Club Sensible, Paris - France Salon PAD (Paris Art Design) Paris - France 2015 Galerie Christine Colon, Liège - Belgique Galerie Antonine Catzeflis, Paris - France 2014 Au-delà de mes Rêves, Monastère Royal de Brou, Bourg en Bresse - France Galerie Picot-Le Roy, Morgat - France 2013 Silent Circus, Dorothy Circus Gallery, Rome - Italie Beyond my dreams, Galerie Mondapart, Boulogne-Billancourt - France Art au Carré, Galerie Albane, Nantes - France 2012 Corps et âmes, Galerie la Passerelle, La Gacilly - France Pop Surrealism - What a Wonderfool World, Musée Casa del Conte Vedre, Turin - Italie 2011 Dorothy Circus gallery, Rome - Italie Galerie Dufay-Bonnet, Paris - France 2010 St-art, représentée par la Galerie Dufay-Bonnet, Strasbourg - France Galerie Dufay-Bonnet, Paris - France Chic-Art Fair, cité de la mode et du design, Galerie Dufay-Bonnet, Paris - France 2009 Réalisation d’accessoires pour la présentation des collections printemps-été Hermès Conception de mobilier de scène pour la tournée 2009-2010 de -M- Les saisons de passage 2008 AAF-Paris, représentée par la Galerie Dufay-Bonnet, Paris - France 2007 Design et réalisation de personnages et décors pour le film d’animation : Quixote, which was a dream d’Hélène Mathon 2006 Galerie Imaginaire du Bon Marché, Paris - France 2005 Réalisation de sculptures pour l’exposition A la recherche du beau, Hermès. Soirée nomade Fondation Cartier, Carte blanche à Marion Levy, installation de sculptures, Hôtel Lutétia 2004 Réalisation de sculptures pour l’exposition annuelle des grandes maisons de la porcelaine, Limoges - France Galerie Béatrice Soulié, Paris - France