With Face au vent, Jacques Basler wanted to work the material by stretching it upwards. The one and a half metre long sculpture shows a character facing the elements – enduring them but nevertheless resisting them, strong despite his extreme thinness. His long legs give an impression of grandeur while evoking the roots of an oak tree, anchoring the tree firmly in the ground. Stretched out towards the sky, this spindly figure is undeniably reminiscent of the figures of the famous artist Alberto Giacometti.
The audience is gripped by a paradoxical impression when looking at the work. The fear that the figure will fly away in the face of the wind and the violent elements of nature is followed by the certainty that nothing will ever be able to bring him to the ground or hinder his progress.

When contemplating the works of Jacques Basler, the choice of bronze as the material of choice seems obvious. Indeed, this alloy of copper and tin, used in sculpture since ancient times, is both extremely malleable and very resistant. And so it seems to be with Jacques Basler’s works, combining flexibility and stubbornness, fragility and strength, curves and sharp angles. For example, in Face au Vent, the material seems to have been stretched to its breaking point, one would almost expect it to break like a glass thread. But at the same time, it remains firmly anchored, full of strength, stubbornly resistant.

“When I start a sculpture, I always start with an idea, but halfway through, chance takes over. Regardless of its size, it is always the sculpture that guides me, it is the boss.”

Jacques Basler, interview by Jeff Gianodda

With Emmène-moi, Miroir and l’Idylle, Jacques Basler explores the theme of the intertwining of bodies. His characters, always stretched out, are partly absent, presenting bodies with holes, fragments and missing limbs. But behind their effacement remains the strength that binds them.

In Miroir, a bronze by a mother of sixty, the reflection is an integral part of the work. Without the optical effect provided by the mirror, it would be difficult to perceive the tenderly embracing couple beneath the raw material.

The public will also have the chance to discover Féminité II, a sixty-one centimetre bust of a woman with barely sketched but unmistakably feminine curves, as well as the mysterious and slender Intimité.

In order to schedule your visit, do not hesitate to contact the gallery at +41213110406

Created by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, the work weighs more than a ton and represents two dancers, face to face, forming a voluptuous duo. The massive dimension of the work surprisingly contrasts with the harmony, energy, lightness and fluidity emanating from the dance steps of this exceptional duo. It is as if we were transported into a Milonga, in front of a graceful couple of two Argentine tango dancers. We almost have the impression that the couple will drag us into a whirlwind of happiness, joy and intoxication for an exotic journey that will last all through the night. Even if the joyful dancers seem to be soaring towards another continent, the imposing sculpture remains well-anchored on the spot. A paradox and an astonishing feat that Botero was able to exploit to perfection.

This work reflects the artist’s journey, who never stopped trying to make voluptuous forms tangible so that the public can perceive and appreciate « a poetic alternative to reality ». The sculpture is a perfect continuation of Fernando Botero’s long line of works, which always strives to reflect the history of European art, particularly Italian, Spanish and French art, while also focusing on Latin American traditions and society. Every time one is lucky enough to be in the presence of a Botero piece, it is an opportunity to explore the century-old traditions of a continent. While this sculpture, valued at 2 million Swiss francs, looks imposing, Botero reminds us that it should « make you want to touch it ».

« The sculpture should make you want to touch it because, in this moment, you reproduce the sculptor’s gesture… it was all done by caressing the form… all this is sensual ».

Fernando Botero

The New York City Ballet Art Series project, which includes most of the works presented in the exhibition at the Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne, began in winter 2014. The artist was invited to create an installation within the famous New York City Ballet. On this occasion, the photographer collaborated with the dancers to reflect on the creation of a series of very original photographic works. The members of the company staged themselves under the direction and JR’s guidance. The artist captured the dancers’ gestures during their rehearsals.

He wanted to work with artists to understand their craft, their rhythms and their artistic sensibility. He focused on the movement and finesse of the dancer’s bodies, as well as the subtlety of their gestures. The apprentice choreographer used this unique artistic experience to create an astonishing installation. He came up with the idea of staging the bodies of the dancers in order to create original patterns, thus turning the bodies of the ballet’s performers into pictorial elements rather than central elements. This was the case, in particular, with a gigantic eye observing the public. This installation provoked a reaction from many Internet users who were quick to compare it to George Orwell’s Big Brother eye in the classic novel “1984”. Following the success of this exceptional collaboration, the New York City Ballet company even offered JR the opportunity to choreograph a new performance in the spring of 2015.

As usual, JR surprises us, transcends the codes of photography and magnifies dance to perfection. When dance meets photography, it creates an intimate, subtle and rare dimension. Something that will delight all art lovers.

“For 15 years, I lived in the Amazon jungle in Colombia and as a result, I painted its landscape with my large-format watercolors. I would compare it to a living being similar to a woman for its beauty, its shapes, its interior, its perfumes and for that relentless love that bears new fruits. Our Inca, Mayan and Aztec ancestors were right to call it Pachamama, because they saw what I feel when I enter its deep light and unravel its labyrinths and forms.

I experience my fears and its endless polychromy and that is how I draw a map in each creation to go through it and live there, placing the observer in an internal dialogue of harmony with nature in front of my creations.

These jungles are our lives, they are the life of planet Earth: they are fresh water, they are clean air, they are food, they are humidity, they are medicines, they are roof, they are biodiversity but they are also mulatto, Indians, mixed race, black, American, they are sacred, they are humanity, they are for all, they are our essence.

It is not the jungle of New York or Paris; it is not the Natura of Rome, nor the Cybèle of Greece or Beijing; it is our mother earth, the Pachamama of García Márquez, Simón Bolívar, José Eustasio Rivera, Neruda, Chico Méndez, Bertha Cáceres, Juan Ceballos and many others who have given their lives to protect it from progress and the devastating technology of capital.

“In each work, I nourish an inner feeling and respect for the secrets of this immense living being who can only exist through the creative act of a supreme, sovereign and infinitely perfect intelligence, like that of God.”

Cesar Bertel

An important feature of my watercolors is that they are mostly in large formats, in non-woven papers, where I no longer use glass. With this very old method, their life is extended indefinitely.”

Fernando Botero is a multifaceted artist with a strong interest in Latin American traditions and European art history. Thus, his perspective expresses his fascination for exaggerated proportions, reflecting his love for pre-Columbian art and the imported forms of Italian art of the 14th and 15th centuries, a time when the excitement of volume was a cult.

While the artist focuses on a wide range of subjects, such as street scenes, portraits and still lifes, a stylistic consistency prevails. The round and voluptuous shapes can be appreciated at a glance, whether for characters or everyday objects. His use of colors is his trademark, with the presence of warm tones and bright colors. Moreover, Botero’s characters are world-famous, yet his still lifes are not as widely known… Paradoxically, they are essential for a good understanding of his work.

Through these five paintings, we can appreciate both the stylistic similarity and the coherence that exists between such different subjects. This is what the artist wanted to express. For him, stylistic primacy is more relevant than the subject itself.

“I think it is very important for stylistic coherence to dominate the form of expression. In other words, in my work, you will find that each element is represented in the same style. This approach permeates the entire canvas. When you look at a still life, you notice that the knives and forks, the fruit, the table, the napkin, everything is rendered in the same way, so that the whole work gives a feeling of unity, harmony and coherence. This is what communicates its essential truth.”

Fernando Botero

Fernando Botero found his unmistakable style while painting a mandolin during his stay in Mexico. The round shape of the mandolin was then transposed to the characters, women and men in his canvases. With this new exhibition at the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, the curious, the neophytes and the art lovers will have the exceptional opportunity to appreciate Botero’s style through the varied works of the most talented and the most renowned South American artist of his generation.

Before entering the École des Beaux-Arts in Perpignan, André Nadal first learned industrial drawing at a time when people were still drawing with their hands. Is this the source of his masterly precision, both in the quality of his line and in the structure of his works? Perfect geometrical shapes building complex and fascinating patterns, his floating monochrome and polychrome compositions testify to a boundless imagination.

Her artistic expression is very pure and pays tribute to black and white. By playing with different brushing and smoothing techniques, with the mattness or shine of the paint as well as the support, shadows and lights are mixed, giving her works a singular depth and richness.

“For me, monochrome allows me to go into the contradiction. From the poverty of colour – because a colour is poor in relation to a palette – we need to achieve maximum richness […], a subject that is really strong, and that is really moving for the eyes.”

André Nadal

Armed with a Rolleiflex and a Magnesium flash, he was able to work by night and by day with an exposure time of 13 seconds. Besides photographing car accidents, Odermatt used his camera for recreating scenes from the officers’ professional life in order to attract young people and encourage them to join the police.

In the accident series, wrecked cars are abandoned upon the site of the tragedy, and what is left of the accident is turned into a romantic landscape shot. Disaster makes way to some sort of nostalgia coupled with a surrealistic impression triggered by a picturesque atmosphere, a particular framing or a complex, yet harmonious, composition. Odermatt did not limit himself to destroyed vehicles; he encompassed the landscape and the sky to create a dramatic panorama. This is what makes the artist’s eye so compelling. In the middle of the 1990’s, the art world discovered Odermatt’s work thanks to Harald Szeemann, who presented the photographs at the 49th Biennale in Venise, in 2001.

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