From 15th of September until 31st of October, the Loo & Lou Gallery will be presenting in its two exhibition spaces, Dominique Lacloche’s newest artworks. A combination of silver photographs printed on giant leaves, known as Gunnera Manicata, and bronze sculptures inspired by this prehistoric plant will be shown in the Haut-Marais area. Simultaneously in the George V space, the artist will present a video for the first time, with a sound design in collaboration with Thomas Bottini.
Gunnera Manicata : Botanists call it "dinosaur food". Since the Jurassic period, this perennial plant, naturally found in the mountainous swamps of Brazil, and whose spectacular foliage can reach more than two meters in height. This plant has been the main topic of Dominique Lacloche’s work for the past fifteen years. "It has gave a fresh start to my work, explains the artist, from photography to installations, with sculptures and videos, I am constantly experimenting. Our relationship is the most important one that counts in a lifetime, because it never stops evolving." More than a simple object, Gunnera leaves are living entities to Dominique Lacloche. "The leaf is a silent associate that I want to hear. I do not impose my personal understanding of these plants, I collaborate with it. (…) My abstract arrangements, are an interpretation, an extension of the plants." In her apartment located in the 15th district of Paris, we discover among many books by Albert Camus, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, dozens of silver negatives in large scale that the artist has cut up to isolate small details. On the floor an immense Gunnera Manica herbarium, face to face with an enlarged photo.These photographs are bound to be printed on the leafs in real scale, which demands a very complex and meticulous work, experimenting in different stages. The results of this operation stands between the "livings" and physical chemistry. Between art and nature. This "visual experiment" that is in Dominique Lacloche’s art work, is unsettling to the viewer. At the same time, intimate and poetic.