ArtNet

Why self-evident? Then I begin to look at the drawings and paintings on the walls or lying on the floor. The shapes abound, swing, pivot, turn and always this self-evidence. Until 2002, a little fellow drawn in childlike graphics, often painted in grey, structured the surface and made the shapes play with themselves. Today the little guy has disappeared and has been replaced by an abundant stream of vegetal, animal or quite simply graphical patterns – stripes, circles, discs, bars. They are painted using stencils (positive or negative), like shapes that have been cut out: impulsively, without hesitation, like a child cuts out a shape. Their effectiveness is reinforced by an array of intense colourful jerky chords, often complementary and painted en aplats. The different shapes are superimposed and interspersed; they overlap in an accentuated movement by a game of numbers.

The eye is drawn to a luminosity which is contrasted, abrupt, which shifts the subject and sculpts the space in zones of shadow and light where the shapes unfurl and pour forth. Their association appears to be improbable, an uncontrolled stroke of luck. Drawn by the same hand, the forms end up by enjoying themselves. In a noisy farandole, their joyful sequence makes the light cascade. It reminds me of Alexander Calder’s Cirque, so fragile yet so powerful in its art form, also his Mobiles.

There are many artists who have based their research around abstract art forms. From Henri Matisse to Shirley Jaffe, from Hans Arp to Stuart Davis, the different proposals diverge. Has Valérie Crausaz not drawn her formal vocabulary from these artists? What makes her share their universe is the vitality that she breathes into her paintings and drawings on paper. Her shapes are not as refined as those of Matisse; they do not have the sophistication of those of Shirley Jaffe. They are not as elegant as those of Hans Arp, and the construction is not as skillfully calculated as in Stuart Davis’ works. They are abrupt, hurried, and assert themselves by the power of their graphics and the gaiety of their colours. If Calder is evoked with his Cirque, it’s because there is the same joy, the same childish jubilation which makes the shapes dance and chinkle.

The matter is always a function of the technique used. There is no repetition from one technique to another: a creamy smoothness for the wax paintings, a velvety touch for the drawings, and a dull opacity for the monotypes. If spontaneity has guided the cutting-up of the shapes, if their position is random, there is a sort of persistence which models, lightens and flattens the subject.

The form is twisted up to satiation. Beaming, saturated, illuminated, resounding, she makes us join in the dance. The proof is there. The freshness and stubbornness of childhood, generosity and acquired maturity allow Valérie Crausaz to dare such an adventure.

(Marielle BARASCUD, July 2003)

Solo exhibitions

• 1989  Galerie 16/25, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 1994  Galerie Art Mende, Mende, France
• 1995  Espace Résidence des Arènes, Arles, France
• 1996  Chateau de Tarascon, France
• 1999  Oeuvres sur papier, Galerie de l’Artothèque, Nîmes, France
• 2001  Estampes et dessins, IFAD, Nîmes,France
• 2001  Oeuvres sur papier, galerie Image-in, Chatel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland
• 2003  Galerie HD Nick, Aubais, France
• 2003  Galerie de la Salamandre, Nîmes, France
• 2003  Temple de St Martin de Boubaux, Lozère, France
• 2005  Temple de St Germain de Calberte, Lozère, France
• 2005  Galerie HD Nick, Aubais, France
• 2006  Galerie les 4 Barbiers à Nîmes, France
• 2006  Manifestation portes ouvertes à l’atelier Nîmes, France
• 2007  L’Assos piKante à Villeneuve les Avignon, France