Light Matter — Atelier Pierre Legrand

A glimpse into the captivating artworks of Auroville-based artist, Pierre Legrand. “Recently I saw Pierre’s latest work in his house; it was difficult to say where the work starts or ends, where the house and garden starts or ends, or whether the sun is part of the work or whether time is an active player in the game,” writes Manoj Pavithran in his essay on artist Pierre Legrand. An eternal seamlessness seems to permeate the artist’s works. Originally from France, Pierre has made Auroville his home for over three decades. This seamlessness and porosity of boundaries is perceptible in his artworks as made evident in the book.
Atelier is a collection of photographs and a compilation of selected essays. Edited by his wife, poet Anuradha Majumdar, this book does not provide an in-depth insight into the process nor is it a linear chronological journey but simply provides an aperture into the interesting life of the artist. “The writings emerged monochromatically, in multiple gestures of colour on supple canvases that he would invent, and through forms, perforations, reliefs and totems till space was rendered porous via new correspondences with the light,” mentions Anuradha in the introductory essay on Pierre’s atelier. “Legrand is perhaps the most Deleuzian artist of today; where the first uses concept and the second uses webs codes to make concrete intuitions regarding the most intimate structure of consciousness and matter,” writes Alejandro Canseco-Jerez in another.
The ideas of ephemerality, transience and lightness seems to permeate his work, especially in the pieces that use organic media such as tree branches, cords and tissue, which are in contrast to his earlier experiments in ferrocement, steel and stone. The frangible works seem to progressively become more and more nuanced and interesting. Concepts of tissue, strands, traceries, perforations are all ideas that percolate his oeuvre. And as Carlo Pizzat mentions in the book, his work bears strong influences of aboriginal art, especially his paintings. The translation of these influences into delicate media such as branches, cords, tree trunks is extremely interesting. Pierre’s background as an engineer is also perceptible in his work that reveals a concern for morphology and structure. Besides being a means of self-expression, art is also a spiritual journey for him.
Kishore Singh’s ‘Deciphering the Code’, which explains the artist’s work methodology, is one of the best essays in the book. However, we are privy to an extremely narrow glimpse into the rich legacy of this prolific artist, and the reader only wishes that the context and process for Pierre’s work were better described in the essays. Nonetheless, Pierre’s work is uplifting, bright and fresh in approach, making the book a visual treat.
Light Matter — Atelier Pierre Legrand Edited by Anuradha Majumdar Publisher Roli Books, 2014 ISBN 978-81-7436-973-4 Pages 205 Availability Amazon India Price Rs 1,196
By: Betterinteriors