Press Release

GALERIE D’( A )
PRESS RELEASE
art contemporain
duel
PATRICIA GLAVE
23 APRIL - 19 JUNE 2010
« Inspired by the emotions that a weapon can evoke, my immediate objective was to create something
beautiful out of something so ugly. Reveal a figurative meaning beneath the ugliness. Broach the subject
of violence and at the same time take the opposing view, finding some common ground where one can be
both critical and comical. »
Patricia Glave, 2008
Patricia Glave’s equivocalness when faced with the fascination and repulsiveness of weapons is
illustrated in the title of GALERIE D’(A)’s latest exhibition : Duel. The grotesque reality of a duel becomes
evident when those looking to regain their honour choose to do so using weapons; a sword or a pistol.
Similarly grotesque is the way in which Patricia Glave transforms children’s toy weapons into symbols
of power. Her starting point: her two boys who were always playing with sticks, pistols and guns,
playing Cowboys and Indians; duels where the outcome could easily be reversed. But then she raises
the question: what's hidden behind these macho games that have been taking place since the beginning
of time? Thanks to her research into weapons and their adaptation for use in a child’s world of makebelieve whilst at CERCCO, thereby completing her studies in contemporary ceramics, she has become
aware of the stakes involved in the fascination of power.
A specialist in ceramics, she uses clay to express her feelings and emotions. It is a sensual raw material
in which, through modelling, moulding, turning, she is able to leave her mark. The abstract form that
she starts with is gradually transformed into the bodily organs which are at the heart of the creation
process, both artistic and organic. Patricia Glave has already created a link between clay and the sensual
body, with her « seins-bols » (a play on words; literally « breast-bowls ») in white porcelain. The artist’s
hands persuade the abstract form to take shape as it is moulded until it mimics a pistol; could this
weapon be an extension of the arm? The grotesque way in which the weapons are developed suggests
a resemblance to a phallic symbol; a resemblance that the observer cannot deny. Whether they are
presented attached to the wall, like a hunting trophy or a collection of weapons or whether they are
displayed on the ground because they have become so large and inflated that they are in agony, Patricia
Glave’s weapons evoke a sense of fear or farce and question the public on man’s relationship with power.
Patricia Glave’s career path, from a childlike naivety to the realisation of the alienation of the human
being, has led to the loss of this childlike innocence and has naturally driven her to explore the elements
that differentiate the woman’s world from the man’s world and to do so in a provocative way.
This progression is not without humour and irony; satire often finds a way to diffuse the drama.
BIOGRAPHY
Patricia Glave was born in Basel, 14 July 1960; she now lives and works in Lausanne. Since 2001, she has
been Professor of Ceramics at the School of Applied Arts, Vevey, Switzerland. She is a member of Visarte
(Professional association of the visual artists in Switzerland) and ACS (Association of Swiss Ceramics).
GALERIE D’( A ) JACQUELINE BETTINELLI AVENUE DU LÉMAN 20 CH-1005 LAUSANNE SWITZERLAND
T. + 41 21 311 35 01 F. + 41 21 312 23 80 www.galerie-d-a.com [email protected] No. Fed. ch-550-1058887-3
PATRICIA GLAVE
( Basel, Switzerland - 1960 )
EDUCATION
2007-08 University of Art and Design, CERCCO section, Geneva, Switzerland
1997-98 École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués, Geneva, Switzerland
1988-90 Art Student League, New YorK, US
1980-84 School of Applied Arts, Vevey, Switzerland
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005
Duel, Galerie d’(A), Lausanne, Suisse
La jungle, guest artist animating the “place Pestalozzi”, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland
2004
Peaux et poils, E.S.F - Espace Saint-François Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland
2001
Objets et gravures, Centre d’Art contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
1999
Dessins et sculptures, HUG University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
1998
L’Empreinte du temps, Centre d’Art en l’Ile, Geneva, Switzerland,
Sound installation in collaboration with Claudio Glave (musician)
1993
Fragments, Galerie Atelier 5, Carouge, Switzerland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011
In girum imus nocte et comsumimur igni, Espace Arlaud, Lausanne, Switzerland; organised by VISARTE Vaud.
Morceaux exquis, Espace Fondation EDF, Paris, France
Le dîner du crime, Galerie Favardin & de Verneuil, Paris, France
2010-11
La scène française contemporaine, Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Circuit Céramique : Exhibition of the International Academy of Ceramics/IAC, Sèvres, France
2010
Accrochage, Jury selection for the 8th edition of the Vaudoise contemporary art scene,
Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland
2009
Prospection and Perspective, Favardin & De Verneuil Gallery, Paris, France
Panic, Espace Arlaud, Lausanne, Switzerland; Exhibition organised by Visarte Vaud
Vers un ailleurs, ACS Award, Biennale Swiss Ceramics, Basel, Switzerland
2008
Laurent Cochet, Charles Duboux, Patricia Glave, Schauenberg, E.S.F Espace Saint-François Gallery,
Lausanne, Switzerland
Assens, les sens en tous sens, art circuit in situ, Assens, Switzerland
2007
E.S.F Espace Saint-François Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland
Design contre design, Grand Palais National Gallery, Paris, France
2006
Céramique Fiction, Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen, France
Hypocrite, Vevey old prisons, Switzerland
2005
Acquisitions récentes (Recent Acquisitions), MuDAC, Lausanne, Switzerland
Soliflore, Carouge Museum’s Biennial, Carouge, Switzerland
Le corps, l’atelier, le paysage; Ceramics in contemporary art, Ceramics Biennial, Châteauroux, France
2003
Culture hygiénique, métaphores et allégories, Arlaud Museum, Lausanne, Switzerland
Contemporary Ceramic Pillow Exhibition, Shanghai, China
To dream the impossible, The Pottery Workshop, Hong Kong, China
2002
Fonction Fiction, Museum of Fine Arts and History, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2001
Eight Swiss Artists, Artigram Gallery, Changnam University, Seoul, Corea. Curator Andrea Polier
Sostantivo feminile, 8th mostra internazionale,Vietri, Italy. Curator Enzo Biffi Gentile
52nd International Biennial of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
1999
Jeunes créateurs romands, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Lausanne, Switzerland
ARCHITECTURE
2001
Mur labyrinthe, Van Cortland Park, New York, US
2000
Sculpture murale, Noam Schule, Zurich, Switzerland
AWARDS
2009
ACS Award (Association of Swiss Ceramics), Swiss Ceramics Biennial, Basel, Switzerland
1993
Jury Prize, Geneva’s ACS Biennial, Ariana Museum, Switzerland
1990
Medal of Honour, Mino Triennial, Japan
Medal of Honour, Zagreb Triennial, Croatia
1989
Schneider’s National Award, Chicago, US
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
2003
MuDAC (Museum of Contemporary Decorative Arts), Lausanne, Switzerland
2001
Financial department of Geneva city for the Swiss Federal Council Micheline Calmy Rey, Switzerland
FCAC (Cantonal Fund of Contemporary Arts), Geneva, Switzerland
1999
FCDAV (Cantonal Funds of Decorative and Visual Arts), Geneva, Switzerland
Johann Jakobs Museum, Zurich, Switzerland
1998
Mino Museum, Japan
1996
IRIS Porvoo collection, Finland
FCDAV, Geneva, Switzerland
GALERIE D’( A ) JACQUELINE BETTINELLI AVENUE DU LÉMAN 20 CH-1005 LAUSANNE SWITZERLAND
T. + 41 21 311 35 01 F. + 41 21 312 23 80 www.galerie-d-a.com [email protected] No. Fed. ch-550-1058887-3