Christian Lapie et João Trevisan

The RX&SLAG gallery is pleased to present two new exhibitions by Christian Lapie and João Trevisan. Designed as two solo exhibitions, they come together in the gallery space to create a certain resonance. “Comme une presence” is an invitation to take a meditative stroll.
The exhibition will feature 6 sculptures by artist Christian Lapie and 22 paintings by João Trevisan, spread throughout the gallery spaces.

Christian Lapie is a French sculptor born in 1955 in Reims. He graduated from the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Known for his monumental figures carved from raw wood, his works feature in numerous public commissions in France and abroad, as well as in collections such as the Fond National d'Art Contemporain (France) and the Domaine de Chaumont sur Loire (France).
It was during a creative stay in the Amazon rainforest that he found his future inspiration for monumental sculpture. Inspired by the power of the trees and the impenetrable forest, he developed a deep commitment: to raise awareness of the beauty of nature, the emotions it can evoke and the care we must take of it. Thus, his work takes on a dimension between memory and awareness. The result is large totems: are they our protectors? Protectors of nature?
The tree trunk is hand-carved by the artist. The installations are placed in locations steeped in history, such as Champagne, whose land was scarred by the battles of the First World War. For the artist's fourth solo exhibition at the gallery, the decision was made to present exclusively slender, elongated pieces, which are rare in the artist's oeuvre.

João Trevisan is a self-taught Brazilian artist born in 1986 whose work spans sculpture, painting, drawing, performance and video. His work features in Brazilian public collections such as those of the Museu de Arte do Rio in Rio de Janeiro and the Museu Nacional da Republica in Brasilia. The artist's paintings, created using oil and encaustic, are imbued with a certain meditativeness through landscapes, some more explicit than others.
For this exhibition, the artist presents two different series of paintings that share a common theme: meditative painting. In his series ‘Paisagem’, the artist draws inspiration from the mountainous landscapes of Minas Gerais, one of Brazil's federal states, suggesting sunset or twilight. In his ‘Intervalos’ series, he abstractly depicts meditative walks he took along the railway tracks near his home in Brasilia. The sober palette used evokes the evening twilight. Through his paintings, João Trevisan invites the viewer on a meditative walk.

When we understand the approach of these two artists, the scenography of these exhibitions becomes clear. Christian Lapie's totemic sculptures resonate with João Trevisan's paintings. The entire gallery is transformed into a meditative stroll, reminding us how much nature is, and must remain, present in our daily lives. This resonance is accentuated by the exhibition's title, “Comme une presence”. The exhibition invites viewers to move between totemic sculptures and painted landscapes, where they can find refuge, a haven of peace and harmony with nature.