The artist
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Agnès Bouche Barbare lives and works in Paris, on a hill «La Butte Bergeyre» next to the romantic river called le «Canal Saint-Martin». She creates stunning original works from a unique and subtle combination of wood, oil and pigments. Her work revolves around signs or symbols and incorporates a sophisticated juxtaposition of colors, each a remarkable combination of painting and sculpture, sobriety and abstraction. Each painting originates from a quote, a poem or even her own writing, that inspires her to create more profoundly. This deeper understanding becomes a revelation of insight.As a graphic designer, Agnes draws constant inspiration from her study and awareness of current and contemporary trends. She uses various types of wood, such as oak, beech or pine. The central parts are finely cut, sanded, smoothed, and then tinted depending on the desired finish. With a thickness of 2 inches, their size varies from 23 in. to more than 120 in. In this carnal and primal material, the artist’s hand is harmoniously guided in a way between abandonment and control, between what is defined and what is ethereal, or even embossed and impalpable. In her use of wood, Agnès seeks to transmit the harmonious vibration of nature’s unending life energy to the viewer. Her merging together of these primal materials evokes the mystery of creation. The individually shaped and sanded pieces of wood bring life to her paintings. Their intersections create a remarkable graphic effect and thus become much like the musical notes on a score. They become a visual counterpart to a musical symphony, bringing dimension and depth to the paintings while also offering the viewer various levels of personal interpretation. The result is an artistic work closely related to the senses, from sight to touch, between freedom and control, where the suggested pace gives impetus to the movement. After passing her entrance exam at the Fine Arts School of Paris (Beaux Arts), she attended sculpture classes at the École Boulle - wood became her favorite material - and studied Art History at the École du Louvre and plastic arts at the Charpentier Academy, where she completed her studies. She traveled throughout Europe for 12 years, residing primarily in Italy and Denmark. Completing a number of commissions and projects she returned to France and joined the Maison des Artistes in Paris, dedicating herself exclusively to painting. This led to her becoming a member of the A.A.F. (Ateliers d’Art de France) in 2009, the nationally and internationally prestigious artistic institution. She was selected to participate in the 2013 exhibition «Revelations» at the Grand Palais of Paris. She also showed most of her works at the Palais de Tokyo in 2014. She was gratified and personally touched by the appreciation of the public reaction to her work. It was after displaying her magnificent, large-sized artworks in both venues that she began to receive many corporate and private commissions of her custom-made pieces with specific themes. Agnès is fascinated by the beautiful «human machine» of which we are all composed and evolving at every moment. These themes are developed from the crucial, beautiful steps of her own life, each reflecting her personal sensations and reactions to a poem or a quote. These texts, chosen to echo her paintings, induce multiple interpretations. Manipulating shapes and symbols, she skillfully juggles with fragments of various thoughts, chosen among spiritual or literary media. Sometimes she uses calligraphies of different countries or continents, each far from the other, but meeting here. Extracted from a living composition, connecting shapes, mixing and matching colors at the intersections of lines, new forms emerge. Letters and words are transformed into an imaginary world that closely collects and poetically unifies diverse ethnic groups. This mixture of symbols - juxtaposed, intermingled or associated - was born from the idea of a simultaneous communion of cultures and the senses, safeguarding their singular oneness. Each piece of wood which composes the work is cut, sanded, smoothed, transformed. From each of them emerges a vibrational form. Thus from this maze of deep thought and intimate emotion, arises the idea of a spiritual transformation, favored by rhythm and seen from the perspective of progression, elevation and union. Human evolution merges with spirituality and nature. In evoking this universal force she takes us back to our essential being, to the inner mind and the sensations of bliss that we should all perceive and elude us. We become aware of our inevitable blindness caused by the limitations of our awareness. The act of creating in full consciousness carries within itself, the spark of authenticity. Agnès merely assumes that every work of art contains in a subtle way an energetic potential that she wishes to share. These recurring themes are often linked to the idea of travel - physical, intellectual or spiritual. Whether in relation to nature, or a personal inner journey, these inspirations take us towards the cradle of life. Translation : Acey Harper
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