VIDEOBAR #66
On the theme of MIGRATIONS and as part of TRACES 2018,
VIDEOFORMES present
« La jetée »
by Jean-Luc Pradels
Video installation & sculpture
Video selection by VIDEOFORMES
VIDEOBAR #66
Mardi 13 novembre 2018 | 18h30 > 20h
Free access
Galerie de l’Art du Temps / Chapelle de l’Oratoire
14 rue de l’Oratoire, Clermont-Fd
When three years ago the migratory crisis and the movements of populations fleeing their country of origin make the front page of all the media, the artist Jean-Luc Pradels then begins the realization of a wall of heads paying homage to the masters from the history of art with the unmistakable facies of Munch, Picasso or the first figure of the chessboard, dating from the Viking Age, found on a beach on the Isle of Lewis in 1832. Taking up the openwork style of the Irish walls, the artist does not stop at the simple historical reappropriation. For a year and a half, Jean-Luc Pradels has doubled his work with a humanist theme in favor of migrants.
Homage to refugees, its wall of faces carved on both sides is an allegory of the suffering endured by migrants, a metaphor for the critical situation. Thus, one side of the wall represents refugees facing a past they can not return to, while the other side represents a future that, for the most part, is denied. In this No man’s land, they become the walls they face. This sculpture, measuring 3mL x 1.50mH x 0.60ml, is composed of 70 stone heads on two sides mounted in a wall on a pier.
From a technical point of view, the terracotta at over 1,300 degrees is treated with iron oxide and manganese to enhance the dark and smoky. In the center of the Art Gallery of Time / Chapel of the Oratory, the sculpture is accompanied by a particular staging. The evocation of the sea by sand and some broken heads half buried – disparate memory of those who perished during the crossing – combined with a soundtrack, subtle, and a movement effect by the light, plunges us irretrievably in the tragic history of these men. Formed by the artist Elisabeth Oulles then disciple of the Brazilian sculptor and painter Jaïldo Marino, Jean-Luc Pradels has been practicing the art of sculpture for more than 24 years. He notably exhibited at the Schèmes gallery in Lille and in the cloister of Menat Abbey (63). In 2015, he took part in “Expo Artist” organized in the rue du Port in Clermont-Ferrand and exhibited at the Moutt’Art gallery then at Epicenter Factory with “Ici est l’Art”.
• Folk Songs / Nino Laisne / France / 12’27 / 2014
This film features testimonials of illegal immigrants and victims of human trafficking. Stories where each one gives with restraint, marked by spontaneous songs particularly incarnated. An approach singular of memory and uprooting.
• Alima, tribute to oum kaltoum / Fréderic Pollet / 4’24 / 2002
Frédéric returns in the footsteps of the diva, makes people express themselves, both in the Arab world and in Europe, their makes some of his songs sing.
• Heroic Makers vs. Heroic Land / Zimako Mel Jones / Isabelle Arvers / 5’03 / 2016 Interview with Zimako Mel Jones, a Nigerian refugee who financed and built a school in the Calais jungle.
• Vida Negra / Sylvain de Paiva, Charles Meresse, Elisabeth Sampaio / 3 ‘/ 2012
1960, Manuel and Rosa leave Portugal in search of a better future … in Clermont-Ferrand? At Michelin?
• Ils nous ont fait bonheur/ Nicolas Barrié / 11’15 / 2002
Migrations, forced return by plane
Site of Videoformes : https://videoformes.com/
Site of the Biennale TRACES 2018 : http://traces-migrations.org/
Site of the city Clermont-Ferrand : https://clermont-ferrand.fr/agenda/migrations
Facebook event : https://www.facebook.com/events/674261272938115/
13 novembre 2018 | 18h30 > 20h
Galerie de l’Art du Temps – Chapelle de l’Oratoire
Free access