 La Goutte d'eau, 2003 blue neon, wire, diameter 124cm - height: variable Pierre Malphettes Pierre Malphettes is a young French artist living in Marseille. He works in a variety of techniques, from installations and video to wall painting and drawing, ... which has led him to combining intangible materials such as air, light and water with tangible brute building materials such as grating and wooden planks. In his project for the gallery, Pierre Malphettes has worked around the idea of light, its colour and perception. The existing exhibition space acts as his starting point. It functions as a closed envelope, offering here and there a glimpse of the city or of nature. By covering the windows with tinted, transparent plastic tape, Malphettes changes first the colour of the natural, outside light. He uses ceiling and walls to install an arch of monochrome light sculptures that resemble urban neon advertising but without any text. They flicker on and off in a silent visual composition. A series of 8 drawings, inspired by these sculptures, are hanging in a separate room. With their compositions of sharply outlined geometric forms, they remind of architectural drawings, or propositions for futuristic cities. An idea that is however immediately counteracted by the violent splashes and drips of fuchsia colour that, instead of nicely filling in the drawn forms stain, at random, entire parts of the paper. Beside the arch of neon sculptures, Malphettes has installed a wire with neon water drops, rhythmically falling from the high gallery ceiling and forming a geometrical spiral on the floor. It is, however, not the intention of Malphettes to astonish the viewer by the virtuosity of the execution of his sculptures. All wires, sockets and switch boxes in the installation remain visible and give the works a more solid and almost concrete character. Pierre Malphettes has exhibited in Espace Paul Ricard, Paris (2004), Villa Arson, Nice (2003) and has participated in many different group shows in France and across Europe. The exhibition in Brussels is not only his first project in Belgium but also his first gallery exhibition. A catalogue of his work has been published this month and will be available in the gallery. Exhibition: 18 November, 2004 - 8 January, 2005 Gallery hours: Tue-Sat 12 - 6 pm Xavier Hufkens Gallery Sint-Jorisstraat 6-8 Rue Saint-Georges B-1050 Brussels Telephone +32 2 639 67 30 Fax +32 2 639 67 38 Email info@xavierhufkens.com www.xavierhufkens.com |
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