Solo show Zurich

Gaspard Louane

27.04.2020 – 02.05.2020

HOLIDAYS

In his new series Louane presents a figurative facet of his creative practice. Louane’s œuvre strives for intellectual engagement with art and the search for new possibilities of expression and image composition.

Holidays should transmit a light-hearted, nice and happy feeling. Remembering only the most amazing adventures. From the pre-digital era we all remember the infamous holiday postcards. Everywhere in the world, whether in metropolises or in small villages somewhere in the pampas, there were postcards. Always in a similar format, postcards show a generic to slightly embellished view of the visited environment. Full of curiosity you also wonder what is written on the back of the postcard?

The sights and places portrayed by Louane are deeply linked to his own experiences, emotions and relations. That is why he has given each of the art works in this series a personal message on the back. Louane paints what means something to him. His creativity is, where his heart is.

Discover LOUANE original artworks

„ I paint places I like and with which I connect good emotions.“

LOUANE, 2020.

The aesthetic character of Louane’s works is expressionistic and free in use of colour. The depicted architectural motifs and landscapes seem almost sacral. The symmetry as well as the mosaic-like and detailed colour fields reinforce this impression. The forms and fields are geometric, precise yet slightly naive. The painting appears flat and bold, with little depth. Striking colour contrasts are complemented by a prevailing renunciation of perspective and shading. Due to the unrealistic colouring the art works seem slightly surreal.

What appears to be an aesthetic decoration is the stylization of the lettering to designate the place. Style writing is always present in Louane’s art works. Also within the Holidays series the figurative motif is clearly in the foreground. Extraordinary is the multi-functionality of a canvas and its transformation in the dark, due to the fluorescent details. Moreover, they carry content on the front as well as the back.

The expressionist style outweighs the aesthetic and factual layer. The artist wants to present his experience to the viewer. In contrast to generic postcards, Louane achieves a personal and subjectified representation of reality through his paintings.

Finally, are Holidays real places or just sought-after and desired destinations?

Tania di Brita

More about Louane

Installation view