Philippe Caron Lefebvre
Les Faïences de l'abîme

March 3 to 31, 2018

The Galerie Nicolas Robert is pleased to present Les faïences de l’abîme, Philippe Caron Lefebvre’s second exhibition at the gallery. Showcasing a new series of wall sculptures made out of ceramic, this exhibition continues with the artist's research on ideological and aesthetic questions related to nature and the science fiction genre. Philippe Caron Lefebvre tackles this new series as the beginning of a reflexion on the phantasmagorical and fantastical representation. Despite the presence of figurative images and references, the sculptures are articulated around the representation of our imaginary, shared by the artist and the spectator, as a source of power over our unconscious. This singular breach towards a narrative resulting from a collective imagination, is incarnated as a spell, sometimes by attraction, sometimes by disgust, but always through the effect of evocation.

Working with a wide variety of materials, ceramics occupies a key place in the artist's practice. If the clay has intrinsic qualities that allow an immediate rendering with the three-dimensional representation, the experimental approach takes precedence through form and color, like a sketch, resulting in a subjective spontaneity. In addition, the works presented in Les faïences de l'abîme seek to be a continuation of the historical legacy of organic-shaped sculpture, as initiated by the modern Jean Arp and Henry Moore, and subsequently activated by some contemporaries such as Ruth Asawa, Lynda Benglis or contemporary ceramist Ken Price.