Land(e)scape

Artists: Nguyễn Thúy-Hằng and Ségolène Kan. 

Curator : Lê Thiên-Bảo

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Vernissage at 18h, 22 June 2023

15 rue Beautreillis, 75004 Paris

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Using the horizon as a point of departure, Nguyễn Thúy-Hằng and Ségolène Kan direct their gaze from opposing angles, suggesting two different approaches to nature in Land(e)scape. These two remarkable artists invite us to embark on a profound journey where nature interfaces with the human experience, and landscapes become gateways to parallel realms.

Landscape art in Chinese painting, instead of simply reproducing a facsimile of the scenery, focuses on the personal manifestation of nature through the artist's perception; it is an exploration of the artist's relationship with the natural world. Nguyễn Thúy-Hằng's paintings exemplify this approach, as she deliberately breaks free from the constraints of one-point perspective. Her paintings depict a serene expanse in stark juxtaposition to the tiny presence of human figures. 

Through a top-down perspective similar to a camera's view, Thúy-Hằng's art captures the essence of solitude and contemplation. It is a solitude that carries deep philosophical meaning: a return to one's authentic self, a purification of life's burdens, and a journey home to our primordial origins.

In contrast, Ségolène Kan's artistic approach to her series was shaped by her experience in the Red Forest of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant two years ago. The air was heavy with history; the gravity of the past weighed on her soul. Ségolène understood that she had been given a rare opportunity to bear witness to the complex interplay between life and absence, to illuminate the fragile beauty that emerges from devastation. In that moment, she made a promise to the forest itself: a promise to capture its essence, its stories, and its resilience on canvas.

Each work in the series is a portal into the Red Forest, recalling fragments of a panoramic photograph. The absolute absence of people and the placement of the horizon on the canvas insist that the viewer become the only living character in the scene. The artist empowers the viewer to activate her paintings. We become witnesses to Kan's journey, walking with her through the disturbingly enchanted forest and observing the post-disaster landscape.

Land(e)scape is not just a visual journey; it is a walk into an empty, distorted Eden, where nature has become memory. The exhibition showcases the symbiotic connection between the viewer and the canvas, between landscape composition and 'mind-scape', and invites a contemplation of the contrast between Eastern and Western traditional approaches to nature in today's visual language.