We are pleased to announce the second solo exhibition of the French artist Roman Moriceau at the gallery.
Crédit Photos : Rebecca Fanuele
« In Heaven Everything Is Fine »
Fragments of an idea of elsewhere, the scented evanescence of a utopic place, or even the songs of long lost birds, all whirl around us through Roman Moriceau’s works. Driven by a true need to experience works that communicate, the artist brings us to a dream Eden garden, a fantasized paradise. In the present age where we think that elsewhere must be better, this mythical sounding title invites us to an aesthetic journey which makes us reflect on the butterfly effects of our actions.
In a previous exhibition in Brussels entitled Tristès Tropicos, Roman Moriceau showed a copper silkscreen print, Botanische Garten (2015). The latter originates from photographs taken at the botanical garden in Meise, Belgium. Under these surreal forests transpires a stereotyped utopia of an exotic understanding of elsewhere. In this garden, plants are displayed according to their variety and not according to their geography, and form a fantasy plantation where plants from Asia, the Americas and Africa co-exist. The situation’s artificiality is very much emphasized in this exhibition as Roman Moriceau decided to resume the series with other photographs, this time re-arranged through collage, thus creating inexistent ensembles. We perceive an adjustable world that can answer our dreams of escape, for here is always dull, and there always attractive. When getting closer, we discover that the color is actually matter, as a thin layer of copper covers the silkscreen prints. The copper, bearing an aesthetic but even more a representative utility, recounts the tale of its sad use.
This paradisiac journey continues with an olfactory and auditive experience which brings us far away from the Parisian hubbub, far from the grey and oppressing city life. A far away gust of wind and a travelling mist, impregnated with the scent of greenery, wet earth, forest and paradise, tickles our sense of smell. This scent, created through a collaboration with the Mallonlab think tank, emanates from a fountain with iridescent enamels. The soft songs of long gone birds is added to the sound of water. They sometimes sing a song from the Pixies, In Heaven Everything Is Fine. Elsewhere in the gallery, we can also hear a messy song from extinct bird species and even a recreation of the dodo’s song. These recordings, which sound like a real and morbid poetry, immerse us into a dense jungle where birds are bellowing and where we can feel this stuffy and moist heat. Moriceau’s works answer each other, clash, and mix, to form a space where we are allowed to dream of a utopic or dystopic elsewhere.
Emma Nubel & Christophe Le Gac
