“J’avais posé le monde sur la table” (I set the world on the table), René Daumal’s confession, is not a catalog of photographs, but a call to wander on the Earth, an invitation to discover the worlds of Rondeau. Here, history knocks down geography, events become embedded in the landscapes, but Rondeau’s images are timeless. (…) How do you recognize an artist? By his world, of course, which resembles no other, immediately identifiable, in the way in which he imposes his imaginary world in a struggle as intense as that of Jacob with the angel. I was always astonished by the strength of Rondeau’s creation. And yet, he only works against the sky, in lightness, simplicity, even in cities at war like Sarajevo. Physically, he resembles a great bird; morally, he is an audacious being. Although secretive, he reveals the essence of a landscape or portrait, the tragedy or cry of a situation. He photographs writers as a writer, painters as a painter, countries as a geographer. He runs towards all the continents, (…). He is always buzzing around, moving, capturing his subjects on the fly, almost by force. He glides along the wave. Is he figurative, surrealist, abstract? He goes through as many metamorphoses as water and its reflections. Rondeau photographs like a spirit on our tails.
EXHIBITION
J’avais posé le monde sur la table
Gérard Rondeau
From September 1st to September 18th, 2016
Château de Laréole
31480 Laréole
France
http://www.map-photo.fr
http://www.gerardrondeau.com
