Colette Grandgérard

LIVES AND WORKS IN PARIS, FRANCE.

Initially a painter and draftsman, I made a shift at the crossroads of the 2000s by integrating volume and space into my approach in two forms: installations and object sculptures.

These two forms make that places of different nature welcome my exhibitions – cultural centers, abbeys, public gardens, street (suspension of sculptures between two buildings within the framework of a Nuit Blanche Paris), barn… on the one hand, galleries on the other hand.

In conjunction with the volume creations, I continue the initial two-dimensional approach by creating a series of paintings on themes related or not to the installations.

The installations mix a diversity of materials – wire mesh, tarlatan, wood, crystal paste, bronze, wax, fresh grass… and bring together a plurality of fields – drawing/painting, volume/space, sound… They give place, in a punctual way, to collaboration with dancers/choreographers and musicians-sculptors of sound materials.

The sculptures-object in bronze and (or) in crystal paste. These sculptures made in the two countries of Benin and France, combine contrasting relationships to technical processes and through them modes of relationship of the human being to the world.
My travels in West Africa, particularly in the voodoo country of Benin, combined with my dual training as an artist and sociologist, have nourished my approach for several decades.

The term “trip” may seem inappropriate insofar as these are real immersions dedicated to the creation of bronze pieces in collaboration with traditional founders. During these long stays, I discover other visions of the world where the visible and the invisible rub shoulders, different language structures, other grammars, other habits and customs and I question our way of being, of thinking, of living.

A few guidelines to illustrate my work orientations, bridges between cultures in a dialogue between a plurality of materials:

> Installation “The path of needles”. (60 sewing needles of large format each in crystal paste, bronze, wood, presented in suspension). Their shadow is drawn on a large sheet of white paper. This proposal is visual but also sound, it is a musical instrument with crystalline sounds; the public is invited to play the needle with small felt sticks. The installation deals with the needle as a transversal symbol of various cultures. Carrier of narratives that are expressed in tales, songs, opera, word games, it builds bridges between continents.
With the needle, I try to sew the societies.

> Installation ” La belle et la bête à l’entonnoir “. (Large female character, warthog, – both in painted wire mesh – funnel in tarlatan, photos …). This one questions, through the preponderant place of the funnel in the public and private space of the Beninese society, the modes of non-standardized consumption, modulable according to the needs of the individual as well as the mutations in progress.

Painting and collaboration with dancers

A long-standing dialogue with the dancer-performer José-Luis Sultan in the context of shows and regular workshop work. More than a classic painter/model approach, this dialogue is built around a meeting between two imaginary worlds that feed each other.
1998 Co-creation painting-contemporary dance, dialogue with the dancer José, Luis Sultan, Théâtre Les Amandiers, Paris

Edition

2003 “Agotem”, revue de littérature, éditions Obsidiane, n°1
2001 “Aleph Beth”, revue de littérature, n° 5, mars
Edition Aleph Beth, Nimrod, En majesté, le manteau rouge et noir du soleil

Journey-workshop

Since 2000 Creation of sculptures (lost wax bronzes) in Benin, during regular stays
Since 1994 Travel diary in Mali, Burkina-Faso, Benin

Price

2002 1st price of painting, Salon Mac 2000, Paris

Other works available for sale:

1. Woman with Funnel, 2019, 33 Ht. x 28 W. x 19 D., bronze, one of a kind
2. Man with a funnel, 2019, 43 cm Ht. x 22 cm.W.x 13cm D., bronze, unique piece
3. Journey in Archaeology 2, 2020, 22 Ht. x 30 W. x 16 cm D., bronze, unique piece
4. Voyage immobile 1, 2017, 140 x 100 cm, oil pastel, paper marouflage on canvas
5. Nœud de Myriam, 2019, 12 cm Ht x 22 cm L. x 15 cm D., bronze, unique piece
6. Nœud à l’aiguille, 2019, 14 cm Ht x 34 cm L. x 17 cm D., crystal paste, bronze, unique piece
7. Bind staple, 2018, 13 cm Ht x 24 cm W. x 20 cm D., crystal paste, bronze, unique piece
8. Conciliabules, 2018, 33 Ht. x 44 W. x 20 cm D., crystal paste, bronze, unique piece

Installations:
1 et 2. Beauty and the Funnel Beast, 2019, wire mesh, tarlatan, pigments, unique pieces.
3. The Fall of the Rebel Angels, 2012, wire mesh, tarlatan, pigments, unique pieces. Variable size.
4. The Path of the Needles, 2018, bronze and glass paste, unique pieces. Variable size.

Photos Alberto Ricci / Marie Docher (Chute des anges rebelles)