Eric Charles-Donatien
Does it make sense to dedicate a contemporary art exhibition to the theme of “Hunting and Nature” in our contemporary moment?
Indeed, at the core of the subject is a practice decried by a significant part of the public opinion evoking ecological, ethical, moral, sociological, even political reasons. And yet, hunting has always existed in it natural environment and has given rise to admirable artistic achievements since ancient times: the cave paintings of the Lascaux caves in the Dordogne depicting hunted game (deer, aurochs, bison, ibex and mammoths) and throwing weapons; as well as the Egyptian tombs with evocations of a terrestrial life in harmony with nature where hunting and fishing on the Nile depict a sumptuous bestiary of birds and fish.
A few great masters are enough to remind us of the importance of hunting in its natural setting as a source of inspiration: Ucello, Rubens, Delacroix, Oudry, Barry, Courbet…
Also considered as an art of living, hunting has been a major subject of decorative and folk art with the reproduction of animal figures as well as scenes of venery in their most varied forms: vases, mosaics, silverware, bronzes, tapestries, Sevres porcelain, jewelry…
Highly symbolic, this artistic richness illustrates the complex relationship that humans have always maintained with nature.
Another epoch, you may say! And the temptation, by a virulent plea, to leave the cynegetic in the past in order to confine it definitively. In this hostile and uncertain context, what role should art be assigned if not that of an activist tool ? The reality seems much more subtle.
This exhibition has no polemical intent. Instead, allow me to incite you to forget your prejudices, the time of its discovery in a scenography gathering six visual artists of various generations : Éric Charles- Donatien, Fabien Conti, Andréa De Bortoli, Lélia Demoisy, Victoire Inchauspé and Marlène Mocquet.
They all love and respect a fiery, mysterious, heroic, nourishing and proud nature, whether in its representation, or by using it as material or a subject of reflection.
These personal explorations set the stage for this journey by approaching the theme of nature and its living matter– both animal and vegetal– as a source of creation on the basis of sometimes realistic, sometimes utopian prospections versus primitive reflexes. They are equally paths of exploration.
And perhaps, the cultural heritage of hunting will seem to deserve to be saved or, at least, brought to
light.
Marianne Dollo
january 2022
