Clémence van Lunen exhibition / Galerie NeC, Hong Kong
October 5 – November 18, 2012
Opening: Thursday, October 4, from 6 pm.
“Sculpture, polyglot, curious and on the alert, fascinated by the countries which she has discovered, cultures and languages which she practises and likes, Clémence Van Lunen is a renaissance woman. She develops multiple works which could be defined as high curiosity in the same sense we sometimes describe ancient amateurs cabinet, but in her case it is in an eclectic and knowledgable way. The art critic and exhibition curator Frédéric Bodet wrote about her work, "rare forms are expressed with an indecisive act, dedicated to the enjoyment as much as to the dismay that she constantly tries to disturb us, her sculptures evoke a sort of sympathy which makes you stop and hesitate.”
Her invitation to Sèvres in 2007 – that allowed me to get to know her better – stood out as an evidence, as a necessary stage for her after her travels a round the world and her research in ceramics.
On her return from one of her regular travels to China, she proposed at Cité de la céramique a universe of porcelain dragons (she chose on purpose the most symbolic animal of China), with the determination to produce them all herself with an never before used experimental mixture of porcelain pastas from our mill.
Compositions of a series of porcelain elements turned, deformed then wrapped up, gathered in an experimental way and delicately assembled, the monumental sculptures required the traditional techniques of production but, however, adapted in a personal and creative way. She then imagined an centre piece , consisting of several elements of biscuit which was built up of a small «archipelago» on a table, like so many islands with strange plants; it was an invitation to a new journey!
Her experience at la Cité de la céramique illustrates perfectly its capacity to create a gateway, to imagine formal round trips, cultural and aesthetic juxtapositions, which are her trademark and her talent.“
David Caméo, Director of Sèvres, Cité de la Ceramique France
Clémence Van Lunen, an astonishing artist. We know her for working wood in monumental scale… the trees. We saw her create photographic documentation of a thousand and one way of restaurant owners folding napkins. We have always known her for being passionate about ceramics, a body of work that goes from the most decorative of expressions to the most radical, like the public urinal of Marcel Duchamp for example. In Clémence Van Lunen’s case, the spectrum in which she works is wide, pushed to its limits, but it’s not Duchamp, because she never works with ready-mades, neither is it bla-bla, because it’s not in her nature. It is other things.
Other pieces, completely creased, reveals the hight complexity of a great artist.
Harry Bellet, Le Monde, February 27, 2010
"With her frank and determined gaze, strength of character and openness to anything different or unfamiliar, Clémence van Lunen immediately attracts attention. With informed conviction she assesses all that goes on in modern art, non-Western art included, impressive in her intellectual curiosity and her receptiveness. It is the result of a journey that took her very early into the practice of craft skills, the result also of life-enhancing encounters and a bedrock independence.” Frédéric Bodet, An art of vitality, Traduction by Adrian Shaw.
Gallery Hours: Monday to Saturday, 11 am – 8 pm. Sunday, 1 – 6 pm.
CONTACT
galerienec.hk@galerienec.com
Tel. + 852 25 47 00 00
Galerie NeC nilsson and chiglien – Hong Kong
208-218, Hollywood road
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
www.galerienec.com
Above: Clémence van Lunen, Doodle, 2011, Stoneware, L80 x D70 x H60 cm.
