02 february 2021, Wouter van den Eijkel
La main et l’œil | Laurence Aëgerter
Until the end of this month, two new series by the French artist Laurence Aëgerter can be seen at Galerie Caroline O'Breen. In these series she combines her love for the old masters with her fascination for sensory perception. At the same time, her work can be seen in the Paris Petit Palais and a monograph on the first fifteen years of her artistry will be published.
Hand and Eye
The title of the exhibition at Caroline O'Breen, La main et l'œil (The hand and the eye), refers to her new series Compositions synesthétiques. Synesthesia is the ability some people have to experience the properties of one sense with another sense, like seeing by groping. It is precisely this combination that she explores in this series. Aëgerter applied surfaces and lines with relief on prints of well-known engravings by Albrecht Dürer. If you go over it with a glove, you can feel the rubber lines. The bright colours of the applied lines lend the Renaissance engravings very contemporary feel.
Aëgerter works in a variety of media, including photography, installations and tapestry. Thematically, her work moves between the coordinates the old and the contemporary, between museological and everyday objects, and the socially motivated and the scientifically substantiated. Previously, in consultation with a team of neurologists, gerontologists and psychologists, she compiled a series of image rhymes entitled Photographic Treatment which is used as a tool for memory training with people suffering from dementia.
Louvre at the Beach
The Frenchwoman moved to the Netherlands in 1993 out of love for the Old Masters and to continue her studies in art history in Amsterdam. Afterwards she attended the Rietveld arts academy and worked as a guide in the Rijksmuseum. This museum context also features in the Louvre Plage (Louvre Beach) series. In this series she combines sea shells she found on the beach of Marseille with images from the book Les Merveilles du Louvre (1958). The result are images that simultaneously demystify the Louvre's treasures and take our wonder about everyday objects, such as shells, to another level.
Book presentation
In concurrence with the exhibition at Caroline O'Breen, Aëgerter curated an exhibition featuring the collection of the Petit Palais. To mark the occasion, a monograph about the first fifteen years of Aëgerter's artistry will be published. The presentation of Laurence Aëgerter - Ici mieux qu'en face (Actes Sud) will take place on Saturday, 13 February 2021 at 4 pm. More information about the video streaming of the event will follow.
