Page 12 - revue_orange

36 | Mr et Mme GORGÔ

Minuit square St Roch
130 x 97

Mr et Mme GORGÔ is the shared signature of two ex- perspective by the painter, takes us on a fascinating
ceptional artists, Michel Gouteux and Bénédicte De- and provocative journey of discovery to meet half-
villers, whose chance meeting at an exhibition is the man half-beast hybrids stemming from ancient Greek
origin of a particularly original symbiotic work which iconography. The composition is very studied, the gra-
allies the conceptual imagination of one with the ex- phics precise, the brushstrokes meticulous, and the
ceptional pictorial skills of the other. GORGÔ rewrites palette dazzling, with its bright colours and red ac-
universal archetypes in an iconography brimming with cents. The magic created by the picturesque decors
ingenuity in order to convey the dreams and anxieties enhances the impact of staging of characters in situ.
of the human race. These enigmatic paintings illus- GORGÔ seems to be a distant echo of the Expressio-
trate a personal mythology. They appeal, upset or dis- nism extolled by Die Brücke and the New Objectivity
turb... but never leave the observer indifferent. They that arose in the early 20th century, which denounced
operate a clever mirror effect through their subjects, the contemporary perversion of a degenerate society
which are shamelessly engaging and tempt us into lacking new values. While seeking to give meaning to
“voyeurism” by leading us into an intimate world that this exploration of the human soul, both in its beauty
is both inaccessible and open to doubt. This phantas- and its darkness, GORGÔ never fails to suggest a cer-
magorical universe, which is born in the very depths tain derision of humans, the aim being to convey a
of its conceiver’s subconscious and skilfully put into “lightness of existence”.
Francine BUNEL-MALRAS, Historienne de l’Art