Edouard Martinet Sculpture
New
www.sladmorecontemporary.com
New
Edouard Martinet Sculpture
Edouard Martinet New www.sladmorecontemporary.comSculpture32BrutonplaceMayfairlondonw1J6Nwt:02074990365 Sladmore contemporary5-27May2016
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It is, perhaps, something like patience and tact that gives edouard Martinet’s sculptures their fundamental value in terms of form: he certainly knows how to take ostensibly conflicting bits and pieces and sculpt them into something that is figuratively refined, yet also full of surprising inflections of fact. this, ultimately, is where the true resonance of his art lies. His sculptures force a re-imagining of the obvious in which a meticulously finished object glows not only with perfection, but with character and beauty.
Edouard Martinet
Gerry FArrell
twelve years ago, a successful French graphic designer called edouard Martinet had his Damascene moment. He became severely bugged, by bugs – but not for the first time. He was 10 when one of his primary school teachers began to teach his pupils about insects, and in a rather obsessive way.
we encounter fishes made largely with kitchen spatulas, spoons, and trumpet parts; a crayfish made with tool-parts; the swift (in french, a martinet!) with dark gleaming steam punk wing ; a weevil with bike-chain feelers; and a praying mantis of such complex delicacy that its individual parts defy recognition.
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Having studied at l’ecole Supérieure des Arts Graphiques in paris, he lived and worked as a graphic designer in paris from 1988 to 1992. predictably, he found work in publishing, and in advertising and trademark logo design. But after little more than a year, he knew he was only marking time. the desire to create sculptures which linked the precision of graphic design with his instinct for rearranging detritus became too strong to ignore. “I like giving life to found objects,” he says, “and don’t want to make them useful. I only want them to seem alive, but not as if they could be functional robots. want the sculptures to give the impression, for example, that a bird is about to fly, a grasshopper is about to hop. In a word – life!”
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screwing piece to piece. And he keeps them in their true found state, which could be almost new, well-worn, or even rusted. If he has the right parts to fit his vision for a sculpture, its making will take about a month. “ the most difficult thing is to find the right part, the one that will seem obvious – as if it had been manufactured specially for the sculpture.”
Martinet has a “huge storage” of material, cast-off bits and pieces whose shapes appeal to him. “And don’t always know what I am going to do with them. I use any sorts of bits. Bike parts, utensils, radio parts, car and moped parts, car lights, umbrella ribs, sunglasses. I find them everywhere – boot sales, brocantes, garages, everywhere you can find used objects.” Almost anything can be of use. the strangest? “Ski-boot fasteners from the 1950s, which found in a brocante in the Dordogne. For some pieces, I have to wait months. I had to wait 15 years to complete the first dragonfly.”
edouard Martinet works mainly at night and his fabrication process requires relatively few tools – essentially a drilling machine, grindstone, pliers, screwdrivers – because he uses parts that will fit together naturally, only ever
1. PraYING maNTIS. mante religieuse.
unique sculpture created from found objects.
wINGS: rear lights of a Peugeot 404.
HeAD: two moped indicators.
tHOrAX: car bumper, car mirror handles.
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tHe OtHer leGS: windshield wiper arms, aluminium tubes.
FOr All tHe leGS: the ends are parts from bike brakes plus a bit of bike chain.
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tOp FOreleGS: car mirror handles, ‘Quick’ ham slicers, nutcracker handles, spaghetti tongs.
ABDOMeN: bike fender, car ventilator and ski boots fasteners.
Dimensions: 74cm H x 50cm W x 104cm L.
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2. FlY. mouche.
ANteNNAe: ski boot fasteners. tHOrAX: motorbike headlight.
On the top: 50’s kitchen utensil. wINGS: the glass is set in a windscreen brush holder, the wing ribs are made with soldering wire.
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ABDOMeN: motorbike headlight, part of ceiling lamp.
leGS: windshield wiper arms, bike brakes, bike chains, small typewriter parts.
Dimensions: 27cm H x 40cm W x 47cm L.
HeAD: motor vehicle rear light. prOBOScIS: car hood hinge.
ANteNNAe: radio antennas.
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ABDOMeN: Solex fender, hair pins, bike lights.
tAIl: shoe horns, car hinge.
eyeS: inside handles of 40s Peugeot.
Dimensions (without antennae): 38cm H x 40cm W x 80cm L.
leGS: bike brakes and typewriter parts.
3. SHrImP. Crevette.
tHOrAX AND HeAD: car mascot, old car wing covers, Solex fender, car aluminium ornaments.
tHOrAX: aluminium headlight, decoration off a bike fender, decoration off a car bonnet, parts of motorcycle headlights.
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HeAD: indicators, typewriter parts and shoe horn parts.
4. CraYFISH. ecrevisse.
ABDOMeN: decoration off a motorcycle and Solex fender.
tAIl: parts of bike headlights, gas cap, electrical fans.
leGS: motorcycle brake handles, bike brake parts, plus for the four rear legs at the end: 50s/60s ski boots fasteners.
eyeS: parts of car inside handles.
clAwS: bike headlights, car bumper, scooter fender decoration, old car horn.
ANteNNAe: bike brake cables.
Dimensions: 30cm H x 40cm W x 95cm L.
BODy: moped fenders and chain guards.
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BONeS: tablespoons.
GIllS: car door parts.
FINS: cake tins, fish slices, compasses.
eyeS: flashlights.
5. THree-SPINed STICKleBaCK. epinoche.
tAIl: motorbike silencer, fish slices.
HeAD: Solex front fenders.
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Dimensions: 34cm H x 13cm W x 86cm L.
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reAr leGS: Solex brakes, motorcycle hand controls, bike dynamo parts.
FrONt leGS: motorcycle hand controls, cream chargers.
HeAD: car headlight part. eyeS: car lights, bike dynamo parts, upholstery nails.
6. Toad II (bronze). Crapaud. one of an edition of 12 copies cast at the arch Bronze foundry.
MOutH: purse.
Dimensions: 15cm H x 22cm W x 23cm L.
the original unique piece was made from: BODy: bronze cow bell, typewriter part, water tap filter and ‘Mobylette’ metal signs.
ANteNNAe: bike cable guides, bike brake parts.
ABDOMeN: bike or motorcycle headlights.
tHOrAX: shoe tree, ball furniture casters, car ornament, bike headlights parts.
leGS: cream chargers, brake parts, spoon handles.
Dimensions 7: 25cm H x 56cm W x 28cm L.
Dimensions 8: 34cm H x 56cm W x 37cm L.
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7. aNT I. Fourmi
8. aNT II. Fourmi II
HeAD: car engine part, bike brake parts, typewriter part, pieces of a daisy wheel.
eyeS: marbles, upholstery nails.
ANteNNAe: bike chains, nutcracker parts.
BODy motorcycle headlight part.
Dimensions: 30cm H x 17cm W x 15cm L.
tAIl car part, motorcycle decoration. eyeS: marbles.
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leGS: springs, pieces of costume jewellery. BODy children’s tricycle fender.
Dimensions: 13cm H x 30cm W x 39cm L.
10. WeeVIl Charancon.
uNDer tHe BODy: car light, shell-shaped drawer handles.
FeAtHerS: hood ornament of a Citroen. wINGS: petrol tank plates of a 50s motorcycle Monet-Goyon, bike chain guards.
tHOrAX: motorbike light.
HeAD/eyeS: small bike light. NOSe oil can.
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HeAD: two seed scoops, ornaments for bike lights. BeAK: autoscope part, bike ornament.
9. roBIN. rouge Gorge.
leGS: bike brakes, windscreen wiper arms.
leGS: windscreen wiper arms, bike brakes, bike chain.
MANDIBleS: ski boot fasteners.
Dimensions: 30cm H x 46cm W x 58cm L.
11. TIGer BeeTle Scarabee marron.
HeAD: bike acetylene lamp piece, bicycle head badge.
eyeS: marbles.
ANteNNAe: radio antennas, vintage cabinet knobs.
ABDOMeN: spectacles case, car mirror, shell-shaped drawer handles.
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tHOrAX: bike acetylene lamp piece.
wINGS: umbrella ribs, fencing wire, aluminium metal mesh.
tHOrAX: four bike rear lights, two small car lights, big upholstery tacks, gas cap, ball furniture casters.
12. draGoNFlY. libellule.
leGS: tubes, bike cable guide, wing nuts, cream chargers.
ABDOMeN: bicycle pump
HeAD: two old bike headlights, inside round sunglasses, shoe tree parts, parts of a daisy wheel for typewriter (hairs from the mouth), under the head parts of acetylene bike lights.
Dimensions: 80cm H x 54cm W x 115cm L.
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BODy: silver sauce jug.
wINGS and FeAtHerS: petrol tank plates of a 50’s Villier motorcycle, bike chain guards, scooter decoration.
tAIl: car decoration.
BeAK: dental forceps.
leGS: springs, pieces of costume jewellery.
Dimensions: 17cm H x 20cm W x 45cm L.
eyeS: metal balls.
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13. BlaCK SWIFT. martinet.
HeAD: one seed scoop, bike headlight.
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14. roSe BeeTle. Scarabee rose.
tHOrAX: shell-shaped drawer handles, under the thorax a shoe tree.
ABDOMeN: spectacles case, vintage pocket torch, shell-shaped drawer handles, part of a car headlight
Dimensions: 10cm H x 28cm W x 30cm L.
HeAD: bicycle head badge.
eyeS: acetylene light parts.
MANDIBleS: clamps for curtain.
leGS: vintage cabinet knobs, bike brake parts, bike derailleur chain, snail forks.
Scarabee raye Brun.
ANteNNAe: wire, nutcracker parts.
ABDOMeN: spectacles case, vintage pocket torch, shell-shaped drawer handles.
MANDIBleS: typewriter parts.
Dimensions: 10cm H x 24cm W x 38cm L.
leGS: windscreen wiper arms, bike brake parts, snail forks.
15. BroWN STrIPed BeeTle.
HeAD: vintage bike bell, bicycle head badge.
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tHOrAX: bike light.
eyeS: acetylene light parts.
17. SardINe. Sardine.
Dimensions: 30cm H x 17cm W x 15cm L.
eyeS: Flashlights.
16. roBIN. rouge Gorge.
Dimensions: 25cm H x 11cm W x 70cm L.
One of an edition of 12 copies cast at the Arch Bronze foundry. cast from the original unique piece (see no. 9).
BODy: Moped chain guard covered with bicycle head badges ‘Lorette’.
FINS: Cake tins.
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GIllS: Car door parts, bicycle chain guards. tAIl: Motorbike exhaust pipe.
HeAD: Solex front fenders, car bumpers.
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