GORODINE

Traces of Life

Lizards and shells, snails and molluscs – in the picture world of Alexis Gorodine we discover organisms, which – quasi off the evolution – since primeval times remain apparently on the same level of development. Accordingly these creatures are also in the paintings in a strange state of suspension, one moment before petrifying. In their significantly reduced shapes they look almost like fossils, traces of former organisms, on the mineral surface of the canvas. Here we find a special preference of Gorodine, which has its cause in eternal outlasting of these early life forms.

And then humans step into the scenario: Early cave designs come to mind, when a bull head appears only in his outlines on the earth like surface. In the same context the emerging characters are to be seen, cryptograms of a past advanced culture. It is always the beginnings, which interest Gorodine, the beginning of organic life, just as the beginning of human culture.

At the same time his pictures are highly modern, because in the combination of old and new, of figuration and abstraction one discovers fresh novelty: on one hand the pictures seem to be very known for us, they affect a preconscious condition of our consciousness. On the other, the creatures appear often, as if they where coming from our machine world. So in “Glory of the sea” a shellfish can become an imaginary submarine. In addition the pictures with their porous and scratched surfaces remind us of the French Decollagistes and of big-city wall graffitties.

The strength of the pictures of Alexis Gorodine lies in this masterful linkage of the disparate. His pictures radiate archaic peace, they contain the original strength of life. The viewer is invited to set free and win for himself this strength.

1944 – Born in Malicorne, France.

1969 – Ingénieurs studies

1970 – Atelier d’urbanisme, Fort de France Martinique

1972 – Engraving studio Louis Calevaert-Brun in Paris

1974 – 1975 – Atelier Sauve-qui-peut, Paris

1977 – 1982 – Travel in Africa, south and north America

1982 – 1991 – Lived and worked in Brooklyn, NY

1992 – lives and works in Paris

EXHIBITIONS

1977

Galerie la Mandragore, Saint-Paul-de-Vence

Sala Mendoza, Caracas

1980

Musée d’Art Moderne, Bogota

1981

Centro de Bellas Artes, Maracaibo (Venezuela)

1982

Galerie Garces-Velasquez, Bogota

Musée de la Tertulia, Cali, Colombie

1983

Galerie La Hune, Paris

Centro de Arte Actual, Pereira, Colombie

L’Autre Musée, Bruxelles

1984

Galerie des Bastions, Genève

1985

Cayman Gallery, New York

1986

Musée Omar Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombie

Mari Gallery of Westchester, NewYork

Galerie Quintero, Barranquilla, Colombie

1988

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caracas

Venezuelan Art Gallery, NewYork

Galerie Art et Communiquer, Paris

1989

Galerie de la Cathédrale, Fribourg, Suisse

Brownstone Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

Sala Mendoza, Caracas

1990

Galerie Ruta Correa, Fribourg, Allemagne

Musée Soto, Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela

1991

Galerie Clave, Caracas,Venezuela

SAGA, Galerie Namy-Caulier, Paris

Galerie Wendelin Kapelle, Marbach, Allemagne

1992

Galerie Flak, Paris

Dannenberg Gallery, New York

ART MIAMI, Galerie Der Brücke, Argentine

SAGA, Galerie Namy-Caulier, Grand Palais,Paris

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela

Gallery Mikimoto, Tokyo, Japon

1993

Galerie Der Brücke, Buenos-Aires, Argentine

Galerie Capazza, Paris

Galerie Entretemps, La Roche-sur-Yon

Galerie l’Estampe, Strasbourg

Galerie Namy-Caulier, Paris

Gallery Mikimoto, Tokyo, Japon

SAGA, Grand Palais, Paris

Art Multiples, Düsseldorf, Allemagne

1994

NICAF,Yokohama, Japon

SAGA, Galerie Namy-Caulier,Paris

Galerie Flak, Paris

Galerie Capazza, Nançay

Galerie BMB, Amsterdam

1995

Foire d’Amsterdam, Galerie BMB, Amsterdam

SAGA, Galerie Namy-Caulier, Paris

Hôtel de Rothschild, Paris

Foire de Bruges, Belgique

Galerie BMB, Amsterdam

1996

Art 96, St’art, Strasbourg

SAGA, Paris

Galerie Kunstart,Francfort

Galerie Van Straaten, Chicago

Galerie Asumaro, Tokyo

Galerie Grafiekhuis, Bruges

1997

Galerie Capazza, Nançay

Galerie Patrick Gaultier, Quimper

Images 97, Chartres

SAGA Paris, Estampa Madrid, Galerie Michèle Broutta

1998

Galerie BMB, Amsterdam

Foire de Zurich, Suisse

Temple de Chauray, France

Hof ten Doeyer, Zwalm, Belgique

Galerie Asumaro, Tokyo

1999

Galerie Athéna, Courtrai, Belgique

Galerie Nobel, Oslo, Norvège

2000

Galerie BMB, Amsterdam

Galerie Indigo, Damme, Belgique

Galerie J. Chevolleau, Pouzauges, Vendée

2001

Galerie Chantal Mélanson, Annecy

Galerie Robert Giroud, Grenoble

Galerie Art Vocation Mobile, Paris

2002

Galerie AA, Clermont-Ferrand

Galerie du Cercle, Orgeval

Espace Saint-Eman, Chartres

2003

Galerie Gollong, St-Paul-de-Vence

Galerie Capazza, Nançay

Galerie Dessers, Hasselt, Belgique

Galerie AVM, Paris

2004

Musée de Vendôme, Vendôme

Temple de Chauray, Centre d’art contemporain

Galerie Nobel, Oslo, Norvège

Atelier Vanmeenen, Harelbeke, Belgique

2005

Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris

Galerie Dessers, Hasselt, Belgique

Diana Lowenstein Gallery, Miami, USA

Atelier Vanmeenen, ArTendens, Beffroi,Bruges, Belgique

2006

Espace Kiron,Paris

Contrast Gallery,Bruxelles

Atelier Vanmeenen,Harelbeke,Belgique

Gallery of Graphic Arts ,New-York, U.S.A.

Galerie Capazza, Nançay

2007

Chapelle Saint-Jacques, Vendôme (catalogue PDF)

Galerie Dessers, Louvain,Belgique

Centro Cultural Eladio Aleman Sucre,Valencia,Venezuela

Galerie Claudine Legrand, Paris

Galerie A V M ,Paris

2008

Atelier Vanmeenen,Harelbeke,Belgique

Galerie Ludwig Lefevere,Knokke-Zoute,Belgique

Galerie Moser,Osnabrück,Allemagne

Graveurs du Monde, Artemise-en-Creuse, Crocq

Galerie Antireflets, Nantes

2009

Médiathèque de Luçon,Vendée

2010

Gabinete del Dibujo y de la Estampa,Valencia, Venezuela (catalogue PDF)

Galerie Ludwig Lefevere, Knokke-Zoute, Belgique

Atelier Art Actuel, Nogent-sur-Marne

Lineart/Galerie Ludwig Lefevere /Gand /Belgique

Expositions collectives, musées, foires, salons

Salon de Vitry

Salon de Mai

Grands et jeunes d’aujourd’hui

Musée d’art contemporain, Caracas

Biennale du Dessin, Caracas

Salon Arturo Michelena, Valencia, Venezuela

Art Basel

Art Frankfort

SAGA,Paris

Biennale de gravure de Porto-Rico

L’Art à l’école, Paris

Temple de Chauray

Art Miami

Art Multiples, Düsseldorf

Foire de Zürich

Espace Pierre Cardin, galerie Capazza, Paris

Park Slope Gallery, New York

Image 97, Chartres

Graveurs du Monde, Artémis-en-Creuse

Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques

St’art, Strasbourg

Lineart, Gand, Belgique

Salon de l’Estampe, Paris

Kunst Rai, Amsterdam

Biennale de Baugé

Galerie Indigo,Damme,Belgique

Galerie Dessers,30 jaar ,Hasselt,Belgique

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden,the Rare Event, Coral Gables, Florida,U.S.A. (catalogue pdf)

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caracas, Venezuela

Sala Mendoza, Caracas

Galeria de Arte Nacional, Caracas

Banco Mercantil, Caracas

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas

Musée d’Art Moderne, Bogota, Colombie

Musée de laTertulia, Cali, Colombie

Musée Omar Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombie

Brooklyn Museum, NewYork

Phillip Morris Collection, New York

Metro North, New York

Exxon Collection, USA

Mobil Collection, USA

Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris

Fond National d’Art Contemporain, Paris

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Musée d’Annecy, France

Artothèques de Caen, Annecy, Nantes, Montpellier

Irving Trust Bank, Caracas

Avero Achmea, Amstelveen

Edition d’Estampes

Jacqueline de Champvallins

Place des Arts

L’Estampe

Galerie Namy-Caulier

Art MPF

Miroir de l’Art

Bibliographie

Javier Vidal, El Universal, Caracas, 1976

Roberto Guevara,”Naturaleza,El Nacional, Caracas,1981

Eduardo Serrano, Bernard Gheerbrandt, catalogue, Galerie la Hune, 1982

Maritza Jimenez, El Universal, Caracas, 1985

Miguel Gonzalez, “La naturaleza al campo conceptual”, Museo Omar Rayo, Roldanillo, Colombie, 1985

Roberto Guevara, ” Dibujo en Bienal”, El Nacional, Caracas, 1986

Elizabeth Lizarralde, catalogue, “Terrenos”, Museo Bellas Artes, Caracas, 1986

Roberto Guevara, “The Sunken Spaces”, Venezuelan Art Center, New-York

Axel Stein, catalogue, Sala Mendoza, Caracas, 1989

Malina Galac, TAGA, Caracas, Venezuela, 1991

Gérard Xuriguera, Jorge Rovatti, catalogue, Galerie Der Brücke, Buenos-Aires, Argentine, 1992

Miguel Briante, “Obra de la duda”, La Nacion, Buenos Aires, 1992

Juan Carlos Palenzuela, Georges Leprince, catalogue, Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris, 1996

Christine Frérot, Johan Debruyne, catalogue, Galerie BMB, Amsterdam, 1998

Charles d’Estève, galerie BMB, Amsterdam, 2000

Thorsten Obrist, catalogue, Essen, 2002

Pierre Souchaud, Artension, “Graveurs du Monde”, Artémis-en-Creuse, 2002

David Gaillardon, Berry Magazine,exposition Galerie Capazza, 2003

Nicole Coudert, Charles d’Estève,catalogue Galerie Capazza, 2006

Pedro Douaihi Toledo, “por amor al arte”, Revista Club, Valencia, 2008

Aude Boissaye,Regard,revue “Vernissages”, 2009

Film « Alexis Gorodine ,”un univers”, Olga Gambis, 2008