Dormeurxeuse

Dormeurxeuse is an encounter between sculpture, furniture, and painting. Here, the functional form of the sofa is covered with a painted canvas, blurring the lines between utilitarian object and artwork. Its function is repurposed to become a pictorial sculpture. The discreet painted motifs echo simple gestures from the artist’s practice on canvas. The work questions the relationship between body and object, between rest and display, leaving its actual use ambiguous. The enveloping of these sofas also evokes forms of disguise, the possible parallels between clothing and building, between costume and facade. Essential notions present even in the earliest architectural constructions, they also engage with the idea that decoration (or ornament) is the garment that covers the building, a kind of “monumental garment,” which also recalls the piece Plafond.

The painting here does not seek to produce an autonomous image, but acts as a skin or covering, extending the protective or decorative function of the textile. The red line, a motif that spreads across the three canvases, is thus interrupted in several places by the work of covering and stitching. The hybrid title questions the states of wakefulness and sleep, suggesting a place of transition and ambiguity regarding the object’s actual use: a space for rest, an abstract sculpture, or active furniture? These pieces thus challenge the status of utilitarian objects in the exhibition space and continue the artist’s reflection on the intermediate zones between art and design, function and contemplation.

Dormeurxeuse is an object-title, a sculpture-title that suggested the title of the exhibition-installation to the artist. The reclining position evoked by Les dormeur.euse.x.s, as well as sleep with all its figurative and poetic potential, are all reasons to understand this exhibition as an invitation to rest, acting as a moment of respite.

From the exhibition booklet