RENAUD AUGUSTE-DORMEUIL MEETS CAMILLE FOURNET
Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil is represented in France by the In Situ - Fabienne Leclerc Gallery in Paris. A laureate of the Meurice Prize for contemporary art, he has also completed a residency at the Villa Medici (2010). He has held numerous personal exhibits in France and abroad (Palais de Tokyo, Fondation Ricard, MACVAL, Fondation Caixa in Barcelona, Swiss Institute of NY, Macro Testaccio in Rome, etc.).
équinoxes
Drawing from a vast freedom of forms, Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil’s works – photos, performances, sculptures, installations, etc. – navigate between visibility/invisibility, light/darkness, the remembered/the forgotten, what one knows/what one believes to know… His creations carry the ambiguous charm of that which escapes definition, surpassing, in each attempt to define their status, the limiting box in which one would like to contain them.
What sparked your desire to take part in the équinoxes project ?
My meeting with Françoise and Jean-Luc Déchery, around one of my photographic series, entitled ”The Whirlwind of Life,” which was the catalyst for our encounter. Before all else, we began by exchanging ideas. It was an intellectual encounter that convinced me that we could do something together.
What are the sources of inspiration that fuelled your work ?
To begin, the hand... the hand that creates and executes! Then the power of creation, of transforming materials and leather. And also, the objects that we wear on an everyday basis, that bear witness to our lives. The objects that carry our story. When it comes to the spirit, man and matter, nothing is done without the others.
How does one decipher your work ?
I always thought that artists were some of the rare individuals in the world that could travel through time – Whether they be voyages to the past, or to the future. The work being presented will contribute to this idea. I used a movable architect’s table (referred to as a Tronchin table) that is over 100 years old to transform it in an irreversible manner: On its face, as if with a stencil, is now written: “HOW TO TELL YOU GOODBYE.” In this phrase, there is a before and an after. This table is thereby projected into the future, with another story, another life. A symbolic phrase that is an invitation to reinvent oneself, to reinvent the history of tomorrow. Even engraving the face of the table is in itself a gesture of love, respect, reflection and questioning. I wanted for the past, memory and savoir-faire be brought together in this work and that transformation play a significant role in it.
Comment te dire adieu (“How to tell you goodbye”), Renaud Auguste-Dormeuil, 2019.
Photo credit : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit Photo : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit Photo : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit Photo : Kinuko Asano
Close up
Credit Photo : Kinuko Asano
CAMILLE FOURNET ENJOYS PLAYING WITH MATERIALS AND COLORS. WE LOVE CREATORS, THEIR INVENTIVENESS, THEIR ABILITY AND THE WONDER THEY'RE CAUSING.