Elvire Bonduelle
Elvire Bonduelle’s quest for happiness drives her artwork, which often humorously marries the practical with the decorative. Since studying in Paris with self-described “fabricator” sculptor Richard Deacon, she has made soft abstract sculptures specially created to make life less hard.
Moulding
(2011) is a set of giant Haussmann moldings portions whose profile corresponds to a comfortably seated human body, making them both artworks and seats to rest and contemplate. Bonduelle has modified major newspapers such as Le Monde and El Pais so that they report only positive news and has she drawn positive words such as “Faith,” “Hope,” and “Peace” on the facade of a collector’s home. This later project sparked her idea for
Breathe In, Breathe Out
(2014) a human sized gate made of steel shaped into the words “Breathe In, Out.” According to the artist the site specific installation represents, “on the one hand, the impressive railings that cannot let people cross it and, on the other hand, a free breathing space represented by the two half-open doors–confusing boundaries between inside and outside space, between public and private space.” Positioned between innocence and irony, Bonduelle’s work reflects on the human desire for comfort and contentment.
Elvire Bonduelle has …
Elvire Bonduelle’s quest for happiness drives her artwork, which often humorously marries the practical with the decorative. Since studying in Paris with self-described “fabricator” sculptor Richard Deacon, she has made soft abstract sculptures specially created to make life less hard.
Moulding
(2011) is a set of giant Haussmann moldings portions whose profile corresponds to a comfortably seated human body, making them both artworks and seats to rest and contemplate. Bonduelle has modified major newspapers such as Le Monde and El Pais so that they report only positive news and has she drawn positive words such as “Faith,” “Hope,” and “Peace” on the facade of a collector’s home. This later project sparked her idea for
Breathe In, Breathe Out
(2014) a human sized gate made of steel shaped into the words “Breathe In, Out.” According to the artist the site specific installation represents, “on the one hand, the impressive railings that cannot let people cross it and, on the other hand, a free breathing space represented by the two half-open doors–confusing boundaries between inside and outside space, between public and private space.” Positioned between innocence and irony, Bonduelle’s work reflects on the human desire for comfort and contentment.
Elvire Bonduelle has had solo exhibitions in France and abroad at venues including Galerie Van Gelder in Amsterdam, Onestar Press in Paris, and Galerie Sabrina Amrani in Madrid, Spain. Among her group shows are Book Machine, "Un Nouveau Festival" (2013) at Centre Georges Pompidou, and "To the Moon via the Beach" (2012) curated by Liam Gillick, Phillipe Parreno, Tom Eccles, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Beatrix Ruf at Arènes d’Arles.
