Edouard Nardon Escapes to White Box
New York-based French visual artist Edouard Nardon creates highly personal allegories. Using sculpture and painting, many of Nardon’s work focus on imprisonment and escape: Only the Strong (2009) is comprised of 20 prison weapons made with harmless, everyday objects that become dangerous when combined with the inmates’ expertise. Nardon gives the onlooker privileged access to this craftsmanship, as he sharpens combs, shatters glass, tapes sharp objects, and wraps cloth.
Nardon charges matter with emotional significance and carefree irony. After he and his ex-wife separated, he wove together all of their bed sheets and t-shirts to create See You In Rio (2011). The result is a 30-foot-long rope similar to one an inmate might use in an attempted escape. It is displayed hanging vertically from the ceiling, and the end coils on the ground. When examined, the seemingly all-white sculpture reveals soiled fabrics shared by the two. By allowing his work to absorb his emotional experiences, Nardon becomes free of them.
Another work, Don Juan / Don Johnson ( 2011), is an installation consisting of four car windshields all pierced by a single light tube. Light passes through invisible shields of protection, as the materials inspire attraction, fragility, and ultimately danger. The title’s literary and pop-culture references evoke the seduction of women.
Nardon will present some of his new work in Berlese Funnel, which will hold an opening reception on February 23rd at White Box gallery in New York.
