Stéphane Ducret : Solo Show Number 1
Stéphane Ducret (Swiss, 1970) is graduated from the Ecole Supérieure d'Art Visuel in Geneva. After spending extensive periods of time in New York, Buenos Aires and Porto, he currently lives and works in Geneva.
In 2017, after going through a long creative crisis during which he refrains from painting and exhibiting, Ducret renews his artistic practice and starts his series entitled REAL ESTATE whereby he appropriates and recomposes contemporary masterpieces by placing them, disconnected from their original context, in imaginary settings in which he creates new narratives.
To date, the REAL ESTATE series is composed of 10 paintings on canvas, all measuring 208 x 188 cm (81 ⅞ x 74 in.). The titles quote the names of the authors of the 'borrowed' works, along with the hashtag symbol, as if they were notifications on social networks. As for the title of the series, it refers to real estate but also to the ‘Estate of the Artist’, a term universally used by the art world to designate the heritage of the artist.
While questioning the relationship between reality and imagination, between knowledge and recognition, Ducret explores the role and status of the artist as well as his relationship to the art market. By embodying the audience, the collector and the art maker at the same time, he sets up a kind of multi-sided imaginary dialogue in which he takes up and develops the discourse of the artists he quotes. The selection of these ‘subjects’ corresponds to a perfectly assumed strategic reflection in which meanings and questions intertwine and confront each other both in content and in formal research.
Solo Show Number 1 (February 10th - April 24th, 2021), will be the first exhibition of Ducret’s REAL ESTATE series coinciding with his first solo exhibition at Gowen Contemporary Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland.
Images : Stéphane Ducret : Solo Show Number 1
© Stéphane Ducret, Julien Gremaud & Gowen Contemporary
Gowen Contemporary Gallery
4 rue Jean-Calvin
1204 Geneva
Dates
March 12 - April 24, 2021
Opening Reception
Thursday, March 11, 3pm - 8pm
Opening days
Tuesday - Friday : 10am - 6:30pm
Saturday : 11am - 5pm
Or by appointment
Solo Show Number 1
Stéphane Ducret in his studio, 2020, self portrait.
After having taken a step back from his creative work, Stéphane Ducret began painting again in 2017, combining contemporary masterpieces, disconnected from their original context (or subtly evoked), with imaginary stagings in which he brings new narratives to the surface. Like each of his series, Real Estate reflects a range of artistic and architectural influences and unfolds in highly enthusiastic challenges.
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 4 (#GerhardRichter #ImiKnoebel)
2019
Oil and oilstick on canvas
208 x 188 x 4 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ¾ inches
Stéphane Ducret's work forges links with other appropriation artists such as Elaine Sturtevant, Louise Lawler, Richard Pettibone and Robert Longo. What sets him apart from his predecessors is his interest in the artist's practice, technique and development.
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 3 (#MarkGrotjahn #Gerhard Richter)
2019
Oil, pencil and oilstick on canvas
208 x 188 x 4 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ¾ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 8 (#RoniHorn #Mousseline)
2020
Oil and oilstick on linen
208 x 188 x 4 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ¾ inches
Private collection, Lisboa
Contemporary masterpieces are combined in imaginary settings in which Ducret creates new narratives, disconnected from their original context. While questioning the relationship between reality and imagination, between knowledge and recognition, Ducret explores the condition of the artist as well as his relationship to the authenticity of this work.
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 6 (#BruceNauman #AndyWarhol)
2019
Oil and oilstick on linen
208 x 188 x 4 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ¾ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 10 (#PeterDoig #JonasWood #JheronimusBosch)
2020
Oil on linen
208 x 188 x 3,5 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ⅓ inches
Private collection, Geneva
By embodying the audience, the collector and the art maker at the same time, he sets up a kind of multi-sided imaginary dialogue in which he takes up and develops the discourse of the artists he quotes.
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 1 (#PaulMcCarthy)
2020
Oilstick on Arches paper
168 x 152 cm | 66 ⅛ x 59 ⅞ inches
The selection of these ‘subjects’ corresponds to a perfectly assumed strategic reflection in which meanings and questions intertwine and confront each other both in content and in formal research.
Stéphane Ducret
Painting Number 7 (#DavidHammons #ThomasDemand #RossonCrow #JohnBaldessari)
2020
Oil and oilstick on linen
208 x 188 x 4 cm | 81 ⅞ x 74 x 1 ¾ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 3 (#JakeAndDinosChapman #MarkGrotjahn)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Sennelier paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 18 (#JakeAndDinosChapman)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret explores the condition of the artist by appropriating appropriation. His work brings together three interconnected and inextricable entities that define any artwork: the concept of the work, the technique used to create it and the artwork itself.
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 6 (#SterlingRuby #JeanRoyere)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker, pencil and Daler Rowney paper collage on Sennelier paper
57 x 47 cm | 22 ⅓ x 18 ½ inches
Private collection, Geneva
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 14 (#PaulMcCarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 15 (#PaulMcCarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 16 (#PaulMcCarthy)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches
“I am a passionate about creating highly elaborated mises en abîme as much conceptual as formal, where I integrate works by other artists into compositions of domestic interiors, creating a new narrative, imbued with strangeness.”
Stéphane Ducret
Drawing Number 5 (#ChristopherWool #MarkGrotjahn)
2021
Oilstick, China Marker and pencil on Arches paper
76 x 57 cm | 29 ⅞ x 22 ⅓ inches