INSPIRÉ.E.S – ACTE 3 – ARTS TEXTILES

March 24 – September 10, 2023
Centre for Contemporary Art l’ar[T]senal
13 place Mésirard, 28100 Dreux
FREE ENTRANCE
Opening hours
10.30am-12.30pm, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
14.00-19.00, Wednesday to Sunday
Contact details:
Estelle Lutaud (press contact):
02.37.38.84.33 / e.lutaud@ville-dreux.fr
Stéphane Auvard (information and reservations)
02.37.38.87.54 / visitesalartsenal@ville-dreux.fr

CONTEMPORARY ART, CONTRIBUTION AFTER CONTRIBUTION, EDUCATING IN CONTEMPORARY ART STEP BY STEP

The Centre d’art l’arTsenal has the following objectives: education, support through the production of works, hosting artists in residence and dissemination through exhibitions and publications.
The exhibition INSPIRED. E. S – Act 3 – Textile Arts is the logical continuation of the Inspiré. e. s series presented by the Centre d’art since 2018.

TEXTILE ART, BETWEEN HISTORY AND EMANCIPATION

The Centre d’art l’arTsenal dedicates an exhibition to contemporary textile art, questioning its role in art history and the themes of contemporary art. It also seeks to understand to what extent the works of certain artists can go beyond their contexts of creation or know-how to make way for monumental art, capable of creating immersive experiences.

From antiquity to the present day, the use of textiles as an artistic medium has spanned history and has never stopped evolving between function and aesthetics, subtlety and monumentality, poetry and manifesto.
Over the course of more than a century, from Arts and Crafts to the Bauhaus, many artists have sought to explore these areas of expression: embroidery, painting, sculpture, bookbinding, knitting, crocheting, etc. out of a desire to produce accessible art that was close to their social environment of production.

Drawing on its history, textile art has returned to the scene as an influential art form, an art form in its own right that tends to emancipate itself from its social environment.
It is an art in its own right that tends to break free from its production methods, making room for the perception and experience of a universal material that reflects our world.

ART AND TEXTILES, DANGEROUS INFLUENCES AND LINKS

Each exhibition seeks to be inspired by the concept of the masterpiece in art, raising the question of what it means to be a masterpiece.
the question of the creative cycle in the great History of Art, which is still under construction.
The Inspiré. e. s series seeks to get to the heart of a creative medium, deciphering it, challenging it, twisting it to better understand its roots, influences and forms.
In addition to highlighting textiles as a creative medium, this exhibition will draw parallels with the nearby world of fashion and its use of techniques and materials.

These two worlds are linked by the desire to create, but are quite distinct because they do not respond to the same production logic (one is under the authority of the Ministry of Culture, the other under the authority of the State).
For example, the collaboration with the CFAM (Centre de formation des arts de la mode) in Tours was held in the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu as a prelude to the fashion exhibition.
Because embroidering, sewing, crocheting, dressing
dressing, weaving, knitting, sewing – these are just some of the skills acquired by various artists to create the works presented in the exhibition.
But these steps, repeated several times, are all part of the same process. Are the gestures made by the artist or delegated to the craftsman, the worker or the machine really what makes the work?

Is this the genius of the artist? Is it not the conception? Is it not the idea? Is it not the forming of meaning that gives artists the desire to create in the most imaginative way possible?
Is it not the bubbling up of meaning that gives artists the desire to create as freely as possible, without the logic of output?

Lucile Hitier, director of the Centre d’art and curator of the exhibition ART AND TEXTILES, INFLUENCES AND DANGEROUS RELATIONSHIPS

Algen bos, installation, 2018-2019, felted wool, white merino wool, fabric inlay, silk, animal and plant fibre inlay, dimensions variable. Animal and plant fibres, dimensions variable.
Chaos Laineux, installation, 2017-2018, felted wool, white merino wool, animal and plant textile fibres,
fabric cuttings, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of and photo credit to Hannah Barantin.

Born in 1997, Hannah Barantin lives and works in Tours and graduated from the École Supérieure d’Art et de Design TALM-Tours.
Design TALM-Tours. Concerned about the ecological consequences that certain materials can have on the environment, Hannah Barantin naturally turned to a material that she produces herself: wool felt.
Hannah Barantin presents two works at arTsenal. Algen Bos – presented in the mediation space – is an installation composed of organic shapes inspired by the real world.
It is made of merino wool, silk and animal and plant fibres. Woolly Chaos is an installation composed of mineral forms that seem to wander in space, questioning the architecture of space and its relationship to the real world. These two works are representative of a strong commitment on the part of the artist, who has decided to banish colour from his works in favour of experimenting with raw materials and their variations in texture.

Walldrawing, in situ installation of 8 sculptures, 1990-2002, knitting yarn and nails, dimensions variable / Pullover,
1999, 63 x 170 cm / Trousers, 2001, 50 x 90 cm / Shorts, 2001, 42 x 50 cm / Boots, 2001, 58 x 35 cm / Hats, 1997, 40 x 50 cm / Jacket, 2000, 84 x 57 cm / Shoe with laces, 2002, 24 x 44 cm / Trousers and shirt with braces, 1990, 170 x 55 cm / Trousers and shirt with braces, 1990, 170 x 55 cm / Trousers with laces, 2002, 24 x 44 cm
braces, 1990, 170 x 55 cm.
Courtesy of Olga Boldyreff; photo credit: Emmanuel Watteau.

Born in 1957, Olga Boldyreff lives and works in Nantes, where she graduated from the École Régionale des Beaux- Arts in Nantes. After an initial period characterised by drawing and performance, she began to incorporate knitting, crochet and embroidery into her work, at the same time undertaking a conceptual artistic approach and great art: soft sculptures – knitted or crocheted hanging garments, embroidery on painted canvas and Wall Drawings.
Eight works from this series can be seen at arTsenal. As well as quoting works by the American minimalist and conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, who invited anyone to follow his instructions to create a work of art, without having to intervene.
Olga Boldyreff’s Walldrawings are in the form of boxes, consisting of a ball of “knitted” rope, a numbered drawing, nails to be fixed to the wall and instructions on how to use the drawing if you wish to exhibit it.
This work not only testifies to his personal experience of the need for mobility, but also places him firmly in the tradition of his peers who, like Marcel Duchamp, explored the concept of nomadism and ease of use.

Supernature, 2021-2022, installation in situ, tufted wool, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of Claude Como.

Born in 1964 in Marseille, where she lives and works, Claude Como studied fine arts at the University of Aix-en-Provence. Painting, ceramics, resin, charcoal and wool are some of the materials the artist uses to explore humanity and nature.
For Inspiré.e.s – Act 3 – Textile Arts, Claude Como presents a new group of works from the Supernature series.
It consists of some twenty works reminiscent of flowers, trees and waterfalls. Each piece has its own name and, once assembled in situ in the manner of a natural history painting, we see a generous plant landscape that seems to invade the exhibition space. Through this phantasmagorical representation of a lush nature, the artist invites us to reconnect for a moment with the tactile and the organic, and raises fundamental questions about the relationship between man, his evolution and the social and environmental living space, as well as the often controversial links between design, decorative arts, craftsmanship and contemporary art.

La liberté guidant la laine, installation in situ, 2023, jacquard, dimensions variable.
Courtesy of Jérémy Gobé, photo credit by Marc Domage, produced by the Centre d’art contemporain l’arTsenal.

Born in Cambrai in 1986, Jérémy Gobé lives and works in Paris. Fabrics – raw materials, woven or already transformed into garments – are the materials of choice in his research. This material has been entrusted to him by his environment and his personal history. Born in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and a student in Lorraine, he lived in two regions marked by the disappearance of textile industries.

The monumental installation composed of red and white jacquard fabrics is punctuated by an invisible frame, suggesting the raised fists and bayonets of Delacroix’s famous painting, re-proposed for this exhibition by the Centre d’art contemporain l’arTsenal, represents a further opportunity for the artist to support the French textile industry, currently in decline due to globalisation, and in particular the craftsmanship of the historical site of Clamart (92), home of an important textile factory.
Clamart (92), home of the best French jacquard. For example, this order of around 300 kg of jacquard at the Maille Emma atelier not only supports the industry, but is also part of sustainable development and environmentally-responsible transport, as it was produced within a radius of less than 100 km from the exhibition venue. In addition to highlighting the collapse of textile production in France, the cradle of these crafts, Jérémy Gobé’s work highlights the loss of this artisan savoir-faire and, at the same time, the obsolete image of craft trades.

Les chats de vélès, series of 5 masks, 2018-2019, acrylic, synthetic hair, crochet technique.
crochet technique. Depuis les chemins de la lune, 2018, Dimensions variable / Les épis de la Terre, 2018, Dimensions variable / Le porteur du Chaos, 2018, Dimensions variable / Au sein des racines, 2018, Dimensions variable / Au sortir de la pelle, 2019, Dimensions variable / Les voyageurs des eaux, 2019, Dimensions variable.
Courtesy of Aurore Halpert; photo credit: FLØW.

Aurore Halpert graduated from Cholet with a BTS in fashion design in 2008 and now lives and works in Tours. Her favourite medium is textiles, particularly crochet. She has a special relationship with the body and textiles, magnifying their ability to change.
At arTsenale, Aurore Halpert is exhibiting six masks from the Les chats de vélès series, made between 2018 and 2019. In this work, Aurore Halpert links the myth of Velès and that of its interpreter, the Cat. The former, of war, shadows, animals, magic and reincarnation, and the latter, a protective animal capable of reincarnating and warding off evil spirits. For Aurore Halpert, these masks are the vestiges of a fictitious civilisation and have the capacity to reactivate these myths in our contemporary society.

Au delà, 2017, Wall installation, cardboard, linen, synthetic fibre, leather, Dimensions variable.
Courtesy of the artist and Musée d’art Moderne de la ville de Paris; Copyright Adagp, Paris, 2023; Collection Musée d’art Moderne de la ville de Paris.

Born in 1934 in the United States, Sheila Hicks lives and works in Paris. She was introduced to skills in Colombia, Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Since the late 1950s, she has been knotting, wrapping, folding, twisting and stacking wool, linen and cotton.
To work with textiles for Sheila Hicks is to develop a body of work in continuity with life, in which textiles are omnipresent. As part of the exhibition Inspiré.e.s – Acte 3 – Arts Textiles, the work Au-delà, comme une constellation. presents discs of different sizes and shades, made from a range of textile materials. This monumental work demonstrates Sheila Hicks’ interest in ‘optical mixing’, which consists of combining colours, textures and materials, inviting the audience to compose, through a visual exercise of composing new colours, and is particularly representative of her technique.

Give me your best side, I will give you my best side, installation, 2022-2023, quilted wool on canvas, 700 x 240 cm (in three parts). Courtesy and photo credit: Lux Miranda.

Born in Bourges in 1990, Lux Miranda lives and works between Bourges and Paris. She studied at the Villa Arson in Nice between 2012 and 2015. Lux Miranda is a French-Portuguese artist who works in drawing and sculpture, but it is mainly the technique of tufting that recurs in her work. A long stay in Mexico enabled her to familiarise herself with textile techniques and discover the multiple potential of their materials and colours.
At arTsenal, Lux Miranda presents a monumental work consisting of three parts presented on the floor and walls.
Like a Tibetan mandala, the work invites the viewer to concentration or even meditation. In fact, the artist has conceived it as a calming prism that captures the viewer and invites him to listen to himself and the world around him. In this way, the work appeals to the intimate, everyday sphere of the viewer. With its sound-absorbing, insulating and decorative qualities, it evokes comfort and in this way reassures by its very nature.

Crevasse, interstices et autres vides comblés, series of 6 sculptures, 2018-2019, felt and collage, variable size, Courtesy of Bojana Nikcevic; photo credit: Guillaume Le Baube.

Originally from Montenegro, Bojana Nikcevic lives and works in Tours. Originally a multidisciplinary artist, she abandoned photography and video to devote herself to textiles, with a preference felt sculptures and installations. Seduced by the infinite possibilities of creating flat or voluminous objects using this material light, waterproof and insulating, this medium has become an art form in its own right.
At arTsenal, Bojana Nickevic presents six felt sculptures from the series Crevasse, interstices et autres vides comblés. In these works, the artist explores the possibilities of this material which, unlike other textiles, does not involve weaving. It is simply made up of a tangle of fibres, obtained by crushing, washing and application by hand, which allows the micro-scales of wool to intertwine. In a state of meditation in front of the fibre, Bojana Nickevic produces these works by repeating the same gesture over and over again to create an organic rebirth, while marvelling at this material’s ability to connect with the world.

Aquarela, 2014, installation, 245 x 340 x 315 cm, hand-painted ceramic tiles, handmade wool crochet, polyester ornaments, MDF, iron – Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Atelier Joana Vasconcelos

Born in Paris in 1971, Joana Vasconcelos lives and works in Lisbon. Her work is mainly based on the recovery of everyday objects, which she decontextualises with humour and imagination.
At l’arTsenal, she presents a cascade of tentacles made of coloured, soft, shiny fabrics interspersed with sewn objects. Vasconcelos reappropriates everyday objects and transforms them using inventive and unexpected techniques with sumptuous explosions of colour. This hybrid work is made with azulejos, plastic cutlery, textiles, crochet… The nature of Joana Vasconcelos’ creative process is based on the appropriation, de-contextualisation and subversion of pre-existing objects. Sculptures and installations reveal a true sense of proportion and colour, challenging the weight of everyday life. Starting with ingenious dislocation operations, reminiscent of the ready-made and the practices of New Realism, the artist offers a vision of contemporary society that is both complicit and critical. She evokes, always with detachment, the condition of women, class distinctions and national identity.