_Art'Loft, Lee-Bauwens Gallery is pleased to invite to
the opening of Variations in presence of Lucile Bertrand,
Laurent Martin 'Lo', PLay Vakki.

Lucile Bertrand, Souvenirs froissés
Porcelain mural installation
Variable dimensions, 2018

_ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The representation of movement was a great concern for artists until the appearance of cinema. Before, movement could only be suggested in painting, sculpture or photography following general principles. For example, symmetry generates a static impression whereas asymmetry suggests tension and dynamism.

In this exhibition, six artists invite us to discover their interpretation of movement, suggested or real. Their creative process sometimes takes us beyond the wall space, where poetry, thought, spirituality and humor collide.

"The only stable thing is movement, everywhere and always"
Jean Tinguely

Between lightness and heaviness, between flight and falling, Lucile Bertrand's work evokes immaterial elements such as wind and clouds, but also the fragility of life and absence in more dramatic occurrences. She has a preference for poor materials such as feathers, particles of dust, fabric, or hair. Soft and hard materials are regularly put in contrast to emphasize some fragility or increase the sense of danger. Drawing constitutes an important part of Lucile’s body of work. She may use graphite or color pencil, as well as watercolor or gouache.

The gravity-defying bamboo sculptures by Laurent Martin “Lo” swing in the air, drawing curves of harmony like the gracious strokes of Chinese calligraphy. This fragile harmony is achieved through opposites: flexibility and strength, fullness and void, light and shadow, movement and quietness. Bamboo gives it its high spiritual, mental, poetic and philosophical essence. It's related to life and humanity.

Claire Morgan’s fragile hanging installations reflect her interest in natural processes and organic materials. In her works, the young artist (b. 1980 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) engages with the elemental conditions of man in his habitat and reveals the impossibility of grasping the complexity of life and death: “Exploring the physicality of animals, death, and illusions of permanence in the work is my way of trying to come to terms with these things myself.” Elegance and beauty, but also senselessness and horror, are present in her installations and drawings. Simultaneously poetic and vexing, they express the ambivalence of life.

Who said that geometry doesn’t rhyme with humour? Shapes falling from a pedestal, a yellow monochrome shape rolls up and detaches itself from the wall. As a matter of fact, André Stempfel is dragging us into chaotic stories, where the elements rebel themselves and challenge each other. Where nothing stays in place, even the paper is doing mad ! Minimal? Yes indeed, his yellow colour so called yellow Senegalese is everywhere. Geometric? Also, in the choice of his forms. Sensual and funny, this work reserves more than one surprise for the visitor.

With a playful and visual approach, Vakki is an artist who explores various media including graphic design, kinetic installation, video and interactive media. She geometrically interprets the process of moving and creating objects in a given orbit and questions the cycle of existence through kinetic work with graphics and mobility.

Yun Sungfeel's sculptures address the themes of balance and harmony at the scale of the universe. They reveal the constant flows of systems, including those of human existence. The relationship between art, spirituality and science is the creative idea pursued by the artist through his work.