La Chapelle Jeanne d’Arc art center, founded in 1993 is housed in what was once a church. During 3 weeks, it became my studio. Day after day, from my intimate experience of the space and the territory, I created everything I am going to share with you.
Working on that project, recalled memories of my travels around Europe, especially the Romanesque cloisters and sculptures. Along with the Coecke Van Aelst Ovid’s Metamorphosis tapestry series, they brought me the will to create a passage of figurative columns.Drawing freehand, directly with a jigsaw, I divided twenty four 8x4ft plywood panels. Using every single piece, I created 12 columns, 4 sarcophagus and 3 cowhide rugs.Each column serves as a lectern on the reverse side and supports a unique hand cut book.Each book is made of 6 pictures I took around the city. They are then entirely cut, creating a layered portrait of the city.Hanging from a sculpted head in the center of an arch, a 60ft long yellow felt cutout rests on the balcony then the floor.In the distance, you see the street through a ornamental single line cut into the wall.In the side chapel, laying on the floor is a video triptych that takes the shape of an alter. The left monitor displays sequences of the Three Kings parade shot in Spanish Harlem. The middle shows a set made in the studio about Marguerite Madeleine Alacoque who appears on the central stain glass of the choir. On the right screen we see passers-by on Ashes Friday in slow motion walking with a dark cross on their forehead. In the stairway leading to the crypt, there is a 200 photographs slideshow.The crypt is transformed into an immersive environment using a single video projector, new installation from the Camera Locus series.
