Frightening or funny chimeras, subjects of anatomical studies, witnesses of the intimate or the grandiose… This is how the 7 international artists of the exhibition “Museaux” (from March 7 to April 13) decided to represent man’s best friends: dogs, cats and horses of all kinds. Welcome to a 100% animal hanging!
To make this tribute to these not-so-stupid beasts even more lively, the Galerie Bessaud has a motto: come visit… accompanied by your pet! Many communities of dog owners have already planned to transform the place into a joyful barking ground, especially during the opening on March 7.
Two Ukrainian artists open the exhibition “Museaux”. Iryna Maksymova depicts her animals as companions of emancipation in warlike scenes, but who do not seem to take themselves too seriously. As for Vova Keno (pronounced Wowa), he strives to reinvent the anatomical study of classical painters, by adding a very contemporary patchwork of textures.
The aesthetic of David Surman, a London artist whose last solo show has just closed in Hong Kong, is reminiscent of that of 19th century animal painters. He represents allegorical sketches of an exacerbated romanticism: fragility, passion, thirst for freedom… The whole range of feelings is there!
The second part of the exhibition touches on the animal representation that tends towards kitsch through objects from another time. The artists use them as a canvas for a personal diary, to tell significant moments in their lives. In the case of the Azeri Aysha Nagieva, it is ultra glossy and realistic matryoshkas in the shape of cats that embody her states of mind. As for the Spaniard Samuel Almansa, he pays tender homage to his grandmother by spray-painting the porcelain dog trinkets that dotted his house.
Finally, let’s take a look at the chimeras of Nelson Apadola and Alëxone Dizac, two French people with very different but complementary graphic worlds. The former works with a quasi-automatic line and paint directly sprayed from the tube, which gives a particular intensity to his half-man, half-wolf characters?
The latter concludes the exhibition by taking over the last part of the gallery, from floor to ceiling. He creates a real mise en abyme through wall sculptures: a burlesque giant holds wacky doggies painted on wood on a leash, who admire the artist’s real paintings (themselves also representing whimsical dogs, of course). Dogs and their owners visiting the exhibition will also be able to mingle with these wooden characters and immortalize themselves... as integral elements of this surrealist scene!
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