AURORE LEVASSEUR, (1987, France).
"Oculus Fragmentis, 2019.
Oil on circular unframed canvas.
Signed.
Size: 200 cm Ø.
Oculus Fragmentis is a thematic composition made in line with the context of "Jeanne je t'aime", a group exhibition held at the Abbey of St Ouen in Rouen in 2019, on the theme of the different stages of Joan of Arc's life.
Presented as a superheroine in trinity, breaking the ice of the stained glass window, the work shows, through the play of symbols and the multiplication of the figure, the personality traits that history has attributed to Joan of Arc and her ambivalence: innocent or cunning? Warrior or victim? Arm of God or witch?
Artist trained at the Ecole Supérieure d'Art et de Design in Le Havre-Rouen (France) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo (Italy).
In her painting, Aurore Levasseur challenges the stereotypical representation of bodies in today's world and in the history of art, transposing them into timeless figurative compositions.
It is not a question of fetishising a type of body, but of bringing a more glorious gaze to it. A look of tenderness, love, sensuality and confidence, but also of tension, suffering and strength, so many adjectives that are usually associated with heroes.
And what better way to talk about heroes than in myths and stories?
The history of art is rich in inspirational scenes, haloed demiurges, praised martyrs, goddesses and muses. But in our time human beings have lost their magic, bodies, and in particular that of corpulent women, their favourite subject, are stigmatised and femininity is codified.
In the long-term project "Mythologies of the female body", of which a first part of the exhibition was presented at the Untitled Factory gallery in Paris in May 2019, the selection aimed to recover what is beautiful, strong and sacred in the feminine and in her flesh. It is on this theme that Aurore Levasseur continues her creation, integrating figures from folk tales as well as mythological scenes, each time proposing various visions of femininity and the human.