Constance Nouvel’s first solo exhibition at the In Situ gallery in Paris will run until February 27th. Through some recent and a few older photographs, she reminds us that photography, in whatever form, is about composing images and not about translating precisely what we see; a construction that results from a technical operation combined with creative conception.
From the outset, the emphasis is on the action of light and, in a way, the passivity of the frame. Constance Nouvel plays on these dynamics, opting for a viewpoint that breaks free from the constraints of the frame, taking either a smaller or bigger viewpoint to cut off the perspective or reframe obliquely. The observer get closer like the eye, first adjusting then distancing themselves. Is that the sea I can see in Impressions? No, it’s something else, a reflection of the light from a window on a wall.
L’observateur s’approche comme l’œil pour accommoder et aussitôt prend ses distances. Est-ce la mer que je vois ici, dans Impressions ? Non, c’est autre chose, un reflet de la lumière d’une fenêtre sur un mur. A partir de ce moment-là, elle a choisi : c’est le fruit d’une décision propre. Entre un bord délimité de trois tirages encastrés (Analogues, 2016) et l’objet extrait (Reliefs) on admet le dedans-dehors, passant outre ce qu’il est habituel de voir. Cette position face au-dedans/dehors comporte quelque chose de singulier, voire d’insurrectionnel, qui pourrait être une forme de liberté. Comme des énoncés d’un poème qui se trouvent ranimés par les mouvements de la nature, c’est en soulignant certains lieux réciproques qui se répondent, le pan de mur qui fait écho au désert, pris en Chine (Une étreinte, 2016) que les photographies de Constance Nouvel rayonnent entre elles -telles des photographies en réseaux qui échangent, en émettant du flux lumineux. D’où le titre de la photographie, nommée Latence, 2016 : succéder d’une photographie à une autre est comme une pluie purifiante qui refait le monde du regardeur, en essuyant les surfaces devant ses yeux. L’artiste sculpte des niches ou coquilles serties de tirages argentiques, pièce unique sur plâtre (Constellation, Panorama, 2014), que le regardeur adopte comme des lieux de séjour. La nature n’est pas la seule enveloppe refaçonnée par la photographe : Motifs, 2016 ou Filigrane III, bleu dialoguent dans un glissement permanent entre espace réel et espace suggéré.
From then on, she has made her choice: this is the outcome of a personal decision. Between the delineating edge of three embedded prints (Analogues, 2016) and the extracted object (Reliefs), the notion of inside-outside is permitted, going beyond what we usually see. This stance before the inside-outside has something distinct about it, something insurrectional even, which could be a form of freedom. Like the verses of a poem that are revived by movements in nature, Constance Nouvel’s photographs reflect off one another by underscoring certain shared spaces that connect somehow, or through the section of the wall that evokes the desert, brought back from China (Une étreinte, 2016), —- Like photographs in a network exchanging information, emitting light flows —– As suggested by the title of the photograph called Latence, 2016, the move from one photograph to another is akin to purifying rainfall, recreating the viewer’s world by wiping the surfaces before their eyes. The artist sculpts niches or shells from plaster inset with photographic prints to create unique artworks (Constellation and Panorama, 2014) that the viewer adopts as a resting place. Nature is not the only husk reworked by the photographer: Motifs, 2016 and Filigrane III, bleu hold a dialogue in a permanent shifting between real and suggested space. Constance Nouvel succeeds not only in reconsructing and creating her own language but also in playing with time, between temporary dissimulation and appearance. She thus short-circuits the time of transmission from source to destination. Constance Nouvel explores the assertion of resemblance and debunks some commonplace ideas found in mundane works or routine lessons.
EXHIBITION
Premier radiant
Constance Nouvel
From January 23rd to February 27th, 2016
Galerie In Situ
19 Rue Michel le Comte
75003 Paris
France
http://www.insituparis.fr
http://www.constancenouvel.fr
