Sophie Bouvier Ausländer - Avalanche

Sophie Bouvier AuslĂ¤nder

Avalanche

Sophie Bouvier AuslĂ¤nder Avalanche

January 18 - March 10, 2018

521 West 26th St, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10001 T (212) 759-7555 F (212) 759-5824 www.davidsoncontemporary.com info@davidsongallery.com

Avalanche (detail)

Davidson Contemporary is pleased to present Avalanche, an exhibition by Swiss artist Sophie Bouvier Ausländer. In this recent series, Bouvier Ausländer paintings use roadmaps – opened and unfolded – as surfaces which are then covered in bees wax and monochrome gouache ; in turn that medium is etched into and scratched away to create a polychrome finished work. Here paper maps are pointed to as fixed worldviews and the series reflect on the construction of the world. The folds of the map are visible through the gouache, but the maps themselves offer up only a hint of their original purpose; their usefulness is covered up and only partially revealed, leaving the viewer to yearn for more information. That obfuscation of information is a key to Bouvier Ausländer’s Avalanche series. The avalanche is a violent and destructive force that erases the relief and its landscape by blanketing it fully as it both covers and tears away. The covering of the roads and landmarks renders the map useless, except as a foundation. Specific details become irrelevant, just as the artist’s handmade details become paramount. Fragments and peeks of the original intent are partially visible but, once isolated, increase in importance as a way to reference a bygone world, providing building blocks and raw materials for a new universe. Sophie Bouvier Ausländer has studied at the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, Switzerland, the Ecole nationale supérieure d’arts visuels de la Cambre, Belgium, University of Arts, London, and is currently working towards her Ph.D from the Slade School of Fine Art, London. This is her first show with Davidson Contemporary, and her first show in the US. She lives and works in Lausanne, Switzerland.

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 30 1/2 x 42 1/4 inches 77.5 x 107.5 cm

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 20.5 x 15.25 inches 50 x 39 cm

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 20 1/2 x 15 1/4 inches 50 x 39 cm

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 47 1/4 x 35 3/4 inches 120.5 x 90.5 cm

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 30 x 20 inches 76.5 x 50.5 cm

AVALANCHE 2017 Gouache on waxed map 12 1/2 x 11 inches 32 x 28 cm

(Avalanche, detail) 2017

Biography

Education 2013 - ongoing Slade School of Fine Art, University College London, London, PhD, part- time, prac tice-led Research (On Tangibility / contemporary reliefs and continu ous dimensions). 1998–2000 Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, London; Textile Design, Design for Textile Futures, PGDip with distinction. 1990-1992 Ecole nationale supérieure d’arts visuels de la Cambre, Painting department, Brussels, 1989-1990 Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne, ECAL (Ecole Cantonale d’Art Lausanne, CH, foun dation year.

Solo Exhibitions (Selection) 2018 2018 2017 2017

AVALANCHE, Davidson Contemporary, New York, New York, USA NIGHT SHIFT, Art Genève, Galerie Heinzer Reszler, CH RESIDENT, Galerie Heinzer Reszler, Lausanne, CH AVALANCHE, Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London, UK AVALANCHE, Fondation Louis Moret, Martigny, CH 2016 THE SNAKE OF MALOJA, Galerie Sobering, Paris, FR TEPID WATER, THE GREAT PACIFIC WAR, , Galerie Heinzer Reszler, Lausanne, CH 2014 HOTEL AUSLAND, Musée d‘art de Pully*, CH2014 View Full CV

This catalogue was produced in conjunction with the exhibition Avalanche at Davidson Contemporary, New York City, 18 January - 10 March 2018 All works © Sophie Bouvier Ausländer 2017 Studio photography by Adam Reich.

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