Luxembourg
It all begins with a blurred photograph. Leaves, flowers, branches… Clément Davout takes pleasure in capturing fragments of everyday life during his strolls through the vegetated edens of the capital. At first glance, the works resemble cyanotypes in which layers of oil paint – lightly brushed – follow one another with dexterity. In other compositions, the lightness of watercolor is subtly combined with the colorful pigments of colored pencil.
Les doigts tachés de mûres, 2023, huile sur toile, 100 x 80 cm
Un vent d’hiver souffle en avril, 2023, huile sur toile, 100 x 80 cm
Studied beforehand on Instagram, the gradations of color in the background are the starting point for his creative process. The artist then transcribes his monochrome photographs inside the minimalist window that makes up each of his paintings. “My idea was to create paintings that would caress us in depth. So I wanted the landscape to be represented in an abstract way,” he says.
Shadows and light join forces to highlight an artistic blur – similar to the work of Gerhard Richter, who greatly inspired the painter in his work. Through this mise en abyme, Clément Davout simply expresses his memories and the beauty of the natural world around him.
Until September 9, Clément Davout’s drawings are the subject of a group show entitled “Un T en papier” at the Reuter-Bausch gallery. In the run-up to the Centre d’Art Contemporain de Nîmes’ “hors les murs” program, the painter is preparing to paint a large-scale fresco on a building not far from the cultural venue.
“Un T en papier” exhibition
Galerie Reuter-Bausch
14, rue notre-damel-2240
Luxembourg