Bâche polyane dépliée quatre plis

Lime wood
138 x 144 x 6 cm

Christian Renonciat has been sculpting wood since the 1970s, with a preference for poor-quality woods such as lime, abachi, poplar and pine. Without any particular qualities, these light woods act as blank pages, offering the artist complete freedom to work with the material.  Renonciat practises direct carving, i.e. sculpting directly from the wood, bringing out its shape using various tools without resorting to a model. While confusing our perception for a few moments, the wood material of his works remains recognisable, and the scale of the modest objects represented – cardboard, paper, tarpaulin – varies from reality.  Thus, Renonciat’s works are less trompe-l’oeil than sensitive reproductions.  Rejecting the “performance of representation”,¹ the artist wants to “present to the eye material to be felt”,² by appealing to our bodies, our senses and our memories. In this work, we are presented with a polyethylene sheet—that is, a smooth, glossy plastic. This effect is achieved through a traditional woodworking technique dating back to the 18th century: tampon varnish, a method frequently used by the artist. This ancient craftsmanship gives us a contemporary, industrial material to appreciate.

¹In “Sérieux-léger”, interview betwen Christian Renonciat and Paul Ardenne, Christian Renonciat, ed. Galerie Guillaume, 2021, p.13

² Ibid., p 16