Galleries in Paris

After Homéostasie in 2007 and Beyond horizon in 2011, Force en présence is  Odile Decq’s third exhibition at the galerie Polaris.

While the single large sculpture Homéostasie, based on dynamic equilibrium, filled the gallery’s space, and while the installation of black mirrors Beyond horizon took the visitor beyond the limits of inside/outside space, Force en présence changes scale and focuses on the body and its relationship with space.

Odile Decq’s new exhibition, conceived with a minimalist approach, consists in works on wall, floor and ceiling. Their concern is the spatial representation of the body.

With Test Tube, placed on the floor, the artist wants to show how far she can get regarding the representation of her body. As a parallel between before and after, the colour red symbolizes the vivid body, while black represents the inert body.

Contrary/conversely to the body’s materiality and gravity, Head Bowl invites the visitor to concentrate on one’s « self »: isolated into the work in the middle of his environment, he observes the world that can’t see him.

Between these two antagonisms, body and spirit, it becomes necessary to find a meeting point. It is on the wall that Odile Decq presents Dynamic Equilibrium, a perspective of the inner ear’s receivers, which are the location of equilibrium.

At last, Mental Horizon is a video about immaterial escape.

Parallel to these works is a set of 11 silkscreen printings, the subject of which is the FRAC Bretagne. These prints are the result of a collaboration with the publisher Bernard Chauveau. The series consists in 12 sheets of graphic interpretation that recall the founding elements of the project: circulation, cross-section, auditorium, as well as the facade and the shades of black matter, which she investigates.

A perfect control of the minimalist disposition of the works in the gallery’s space emphasizes the mysterious presence of the works.

Is it the architect’s mastery that dictated the layout of the works or is it the works that regulate the immateriality so dear to Odile Decq.

As the artist says: « I remain the guardian of the initial idea », it will be the visitor who will decide of its meaning and functioning.