NEW PIECES IN THE GUTHRIE CONTEMPORARY GALLERY

Left to right: "L'Origine du Monde," "Man Ray," "Déjeuner sur l'herbe," "Antiquity," "Niagara."

With one foot out of the door as I prepare to leave for my annual summer sojourn in France, I was pleased to place several works in the Guthrie Contemporary Gallery. They include four sculptures and two paintings. Two of the sculptures, "Antiquity" (cherry wood), and "Androgyne" (granite), represent female forms. "Man Ray" (marble) and "Niagara" (stained cypress) are abstract pieces. In addition, the gallery has hung two of my large abstract paintings, "Déjeuner sur l'herbe," and "L'Origine du Monde." Astute students of art history will recognize those titles as belonging to famous works by Manet and Courbet. My paintings in no way resemble those famous canvases but I felt the titles were somehow evocative of the spirit of my pieces. This is what the French call a "clin d'oeil"—a wink. These works will be in the gallery all summer and into the fall.

Guthrie Contemporary Gallery
3815 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-897-2688
www.guthriecontemporary.com

Please visit my website: sylvainesancton.com











3815 Magazine Street, New Orleans 70115.

"SURVIVAL" OPENS AT THE OGDEN

Delighted to have my pecan wood and steel sculpture "Survival" shown at the Odgen Museum of Southern Art as part of the "Sense of Place" exhibition that opened tonight. Thanks to the friends who attended, and especially to Ogden Curator Bradley Sumrall, who believed in the piece enough to give it a pride of place on the 4th floor gallery. I was particularly gratified by Bradley's comment that "It is really a magnificent work, and a welcome addition to the collection."

"SURVIVAL" FEATURED AT THE OGDEN

I am very pleased to have my pecan wood and iron sculpture, entitled "Survival," featured at the Ogden Museum's upcoming exhibition “A Sense of Place II” from April 24 to July 20 2014. Opening reception Thursday April 24, 6 pm – 8 pm. Hope to see some of you there!

"SURVIVAL" GOES TO THE OGDEN

My monumental pecan wood and steel sculpture, "Survival," has been admitted into the permanent collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. I am grateful for this honor and pleased to have my work represented in this great institution.

"Survival" has an interesting back story. The 81-inch high wooden column was fashioned from the trunk of a century-old Louisiana pecan tree felled by hurricane Katrina. This noble trunk could have been burned to ashes, ground to sawdust, or wound up in a landfill. Instead, it found its way into my hands and I decided to give it a new life even as my adopted city was rebuilding its own life. The carved surface depicts a series of intersecting waves, evoking the waters that battered and engulfed the city in 2005. The natural veins and striations in the wood trace the growth and evolution of this living organism before it was uprooted and transformed into a tribute to endurance and renewal. Finally, the steel spine suggests the industrial prowess, the engineering know-how, the energy and the creativity of this proud region. I consider "Survival" to be a pean to nature’s force and man’s indomitable spirit, and I am delighted that it has found a permanent place in the Ogden.

My website: sylvainesancton.com
The Ogden website: http://ogdenmuseum.org

MY BARRISTER'S ART SHOW REVIEWED BY GAMBIT

Art critic Eric Bookhardt just published a nice review of my art show in the Gambit:

Theme and Variations: Mixed Media by Sylvaine Sancton, Through March 1, Barrister's Gallery, 2331 St. Claude Ave, 710-4506.

In art lingo, work that fulfills its potential is deemed "fully realized," and this show has many examples. Sylvaine Sancton's abstract paintings and sculptures at Barrister's express a fully realized vision that transcends media. Whether it's paint, wood or travertine, Sancton's sinuous, organic forms are pristine articulations of the transcendent reality that she sees just beyond the ordinary reality we all share. One unusual attribute of this show is how the sculpture "explains" the paintings and vice-versa, making it clear that all reflect the same essential vision, which is just as much a "reality" as any "realistic" art, subjective though it may be. Or as she puts it: "The nature of my work is sensual and emotional. There are only lines, color, and matter... It does not represent reality. It is reality"    
—Eric Bookhardt, Gambit,  2/17/2014

BARRISTER'S OPENING TONIGHT - FEB. 8

Finally finished setting up my show with Barrister's Gallery owner Andy Antippas on Thursday. I think my work looks very much at home in this space. Looking forward to the opening tonight. The sun's out now, so with a little luck the weather will will warm up a bit and gallery visitors will be able to enjoy a glass of wine and mingle in the courtyard. The work is a mixture of drawings, paintings and sculpture (bronze, stone, and wood). I look forward to seeing many of you there. If you can't make the opening, the show runs through March 1.
Barrister's Gallery
2331 St. Claude Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70117
Opening: Feb. 8, 6 - 9 pm

MY ART SHOW AT BARRISTER'S

I am busy this week preparing for my solo show at Barrister's Gallery, which opens this Saturday, Feb. 8, 6 - 9 pm. The show will feature new drawings and paintings, along with some of my wood and stone sculpture. Keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather, which will allow visitors to linger and mingle in Barrister's courtyard over a glass of wine. If you're in the neighborhood, please come. And if you can't make the opening, the show runs until March 1.
2331 St. Claude Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
504-710-4506

New Sculpture Show

"Making Waves," my new show with Viorel Hodre opened on Saturday, February 23, at the Georges Art Gallery, 300 Park Road, Metairie. Featuring 18 pieces of sculpture and three photographs, the show's opening also included a sound installation by my husband, Tom Sancton. Herewith the gallery's description of the exhibition:

"Despite their sharply differing styles, Sylvaine Sancton and Viorel Hodre share a common vision of the sculptor’s mission: to convert matter into forms that provoke an emotional response. Sancton’s work in wood and bronze stresses the curves and arcs of the natural world—ocean waves, rivulets of flowing water, the sensual contours of the female body. Hodre’s steel and wood pieces are more angular and geometric, evoking crystals, molecular structures, or phantasmagoric spacecraft. Observers are free to see whatever they like in the non-figurative work of both sculptors, but they are unlikely to remain indifferent. In that sense, “Making Waves” refers both to the recurrent form in Sancton’s sculpture and photography, and to the artists’ shared aim of shaking up certainties and conventions."

                                                      The show will be up until March 28. All are welcome.


Visit my website: sylvainesancton.com