TITLE: Statumanités
"History is a perpetual restart", a quote attributed to Thucydides.
At the Calvaire de Pontchâteau in western France, 56 cement and cast-iron statues represent Christ's Way of the Cross in the Catholic religion. Commissioned from the Parisian sculptor brothers Claude and Pierre DELIN, they were installed from 1898 in a park open to the public.
As a child, I used to walk alongside them on Sunday promenades with my grandparents. I remember that their larger-than-life size, their whiteness and the cruelty of the scenes they depict scared me a little.
Today, as an adult, and an atheist, I've retained a fascination for them. They raise questions in my mind: how should I look at these statues charged with religious symbolism and intentions that escape my understanding? How can I connect with my child's gaze to play freely with portraits frozen in the Christian iconography of the 19th century?
In seeking out the blood and flesh beneath the metal and cement, I chose the prism of history: the endless return of war, soldiers, victims, grieving mothers and wives... Humanity and grace as well, nowadays as in the past.
AUTHOR: Emmanuelle Rabu (France)
Photography first came to inspire and/or accompany my poetic texts and my paintings. Then it took an increasingly important place in my artistic research: with it, the game is intense, surprising, the light impish, the imagination within reach of the lens.
I use my camera the same way I use a paintbrush or a pen: by letting the unconscious and the taste for play guide me.
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