Bestiaire n°5, gravure originale, 2021

Raymond Waydelich  

Born in Strasbourg-Neudorf on September 14, 1938, Waydelich is passionate about archeology and mythologies as much "primitive" as urban, he has shaped his own in these improbable animals, in these tasty scenes. Her work is made of tributes to her past and her dreams, but also of nods to the future. He represented France at the Venice Biennale in 1978. His work mainly concerns time and memory, in particular “memory of the future” and the traces of our civilization that will be discovered and interpreted by archaeologists of the future. This work focuses on the object, its anticipated transformation under the action of time or its preservation through the ages (recreated ceramic tires, a garden hut cast in bronze, objects sealed in a vault near the Strasbourg cathedral, not to be opened until 3790 ... Another side of its production is inspired by the “dream” life of a 19th century seamstress, Lydia Jacob, whose sketchbook Raymond Waydelich acquired at the Marché aux chips in 1973. The episodes of Lydia Jacob's life are retraced through a wide variety of plastic means: painting, sculpture, collages, assemblages, watercolors, engravings… These works often take the form of tributes to a famous character , to brands, places, or commemorating Lydia Jacob's imaginary travels. They are frequently invested by a earthy bestiary with half animal and half human expressions (crocodiles, deer, pigs, poultry, fish, etc.), in a spirit poet ique tinged with humor, dreamlike and humanism.