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The Americas Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Prints 2010 Selections for Exhibition |
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"no title" 1 Allirand |
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| Artist's Statement | ||
I've always been fascinated by engraving but I waited 10 long years before buying a copper plate. I dedicated 10 years of my life to painting, to Indian inks, I painted for 10 years without writing a word, when one day, I had a sudden urge to express myself differently... I wanted to write, but how would I go about it? By using words of course, but I didn't want these words to be read, not even by myself. I wanted words that were both private and transient. I realized that engraving was the only way I could achieve this, writing normally then upside down, with the accuracy of heartfelt words and dry-point engraving, writing and rewriting my own words, revealing my fears, seeking out truths. These 'writings' were more often than not illegible, abstract, perhaps a new way of writing without limits in which each person can dream up a page filled with their own words, from their own existence, be it earthly or otherwise. These 'writings' opened doors for me in the world of engraving and my painting took on the style of engraved art, colourless, with horizontal and vertical lines, with spontaneity and the continuity of Indian inks - it was an architecture which was in search of light. Imaginary landscapes, light streaming in from the north, a window, a corridor, criss-crossing lines like the 'bridge supports' from the most recent engravings, seeking tensions that remain upright, constructions and reconstructions. Whether writing a word or drawing a line, the objective is the same: to attain freedom. Whether creating the downstrokes and upstrokes of handwriting, or the straight lines of an engraving, part of the artist himself always remains in his work.
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| Statement of Artistic Process | ||
Constantly seeking to link open spaces, endless offshoots of the visible and invisible worlds where distance and proximity cross paths, brush past each other but never stand in each other's way, each needing the other to survive, each following on from the other. These bridge supports hold and maintain a delicate balance and reveal alternative inner worlds.
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| Bio | ||
There are people in our lives that we do not come across by chance, but by appointments without a set date. After ten years of painting and drawing, Renaud Allirand took to engraving, an art form that offered him endless possibilities to express himself. The year is 2002. Allirand has no previous experience in engraving, but from his first printed work is encouraged by the printer René Tazé, a copper-plate engraver whose name would form then on be synonymous with engraved artwork. Allirand, who at the time was working on the theme of writing, launches into the copper plate with gusto, bringing forth words full of force and passion, written upside-down and deliberately illegible. With the copper matrix on the table and dry-point in hand, the adventure is underway. Copper, like mirror, is the meeting place between the engraver’s face and inner thoughts. The words are engraved using spontaneous, unbroken strokes, then transferred to paper by the printer to present the observer with a world displaying the first wedge-shaped, or Arab writings from ancient civilizations, with undulating letters forming never-before-seen patterns. The words cannot be read or understood, they are simply there and somehow transform into common language. In another work, vertical and horizontal lines are to be found among the words. The engraving becomes more abstract, more geometric, as if seeking a certain balance. The style is concise and methodical. One engraving depicts a seaside landscape, the next one a gate placed above a chasm… From these patterns, from this prison, or from this outward-facing passage, the observer savours the joys of life. Like paintings, and unlike drawings, no characters can be seen. The landscapes are bleak and thick with imagery. Among the evenly-engraved landscape, however, an almost human-like dune can be seen. The colour black has been added with both passion and hope. It is often to be seen, in flat surfaces, open spaces, and in shadows from which light filters out. Black is not a single colour, it is all colours…colours hidden deep within us, which are often inappropriately used in engraving, as they are perhaps too emotionally-charged. Allirand’s etching technique, on the other hand, arrived later on, through a thin-nibbed paintbrush dipped in hydrochloric acid. The engraver uses this with a zinc matrix. The process resembles that used for Indian inks. Renaud Allirand, who also produces drawings under the pseudonym ‘Dip’, revels in using a bright felt-tip pen in the fluid motions of his sketches. The brush caresses the plate, bites it, and, after inking and having been put through the press, displays irregular, almost invisible lines, a sort of soft monochrome shade in a transparent grey. In Les Haubans [‘The Bridge Supports’], Allirand, inspired by the suspension bridges, rediscovers architecture, a recurring theme in his work. The tubes criss-cross and blend together, leading us into a world of turmoil and confusion. It is an exhilarating sight to behold. The main theme branches off, setting out on a sharp, oblique line. This change, which is barely noticeable, marks a turning point for the artist. The artwork has a more sparse style and is therefore more rigorous. Radiating lines appear, like a solar star that can be seen in the Egyptian low relief. The ploughed land can also be seen, portraying nature as a refuge and unending source of inspiration. Finally, the engravings get bigger, as Allirand finds that full-size artwork offers him freedom which has so far been unattainable in his paintings. Renaud Allirand is an artist with a fertile imagination who likes a certain amount of confusion in his paintings. The observer should appreciate, absorb, and sometimes even listen to them. On approaching some of his paintings, melodic music and a tuneful voice seem to permeate from within, perhaps due to the influence of an artist who sings and listens to music while working.
Affilié à La Maison des Artistes membre de l'ADAGP. 2010
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