#janebarthes | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

femmesfollesnebraska · 5 years ago

Text

Artist Feature: Jane Barthès

Jane Barthès shares with LFF about her journey with art, her recent work and projects, feminism and much more...all images (c) Jane Barthès.

Magical Forms and Spaces #2, 2018, 48x48″, charcoal and acrylic on canvas

Where are you from?

Born in Nigeria, to a Catalan French father and an English mother. Raised in London. As an adult in my 30s, I went to live near my southern French roots for 10 years before moving to New Mexico in the USA in 2004 where I lived for 5 years. When the big recession set in and the galleries closed, I headed for Chicago in 2009 (10 years ago) where I continue to live and work as an artist.

Molecular Model C6H807 (citric acid), 2018, 48x48″, charcoal and acrylic on canvas

Jane Barthès - About me and the work: Some perspective

My journey with art has been intensely personal. It began with a comic strip in the 80s. I was forbidden to go to art school so attended much later in the 90s. Nothing could ultimately stop the eternal need to draw! To this day, I consider myself primarily a draughtswoman, forever looking to exploit the illusion of space in new ways. Drawing is at the root of everything I do and making art has been the vehicle through which I have created a personal language to describe, digest and make sense of everything I encounter in my life. Grounded in an intuitive approach I have developed over many years. I seek to share a distilled space that invites people to briefly see and feel how I experience life. Underlying everything is my obsession with the intangible energy that mysteriously propels me through my existence. I’m guided by the goose-bumps factor as I sense the esoteric connection between all things.

Molecular Patters #7, 2016, 48x48″, charcoal, graphite and acrylic on canvas

A little more information: Balancing the inherited duality of a fiery Catalan French father and a reserved English mother is fundamental to the work and probably sheds light on my love of Eastern philosophies, particularly Zen. I am intrigued by the idea that beauty can result from chaos; opposing concepts such as poetry, math and physics are utterly interconnected. Energy can be contained. My use of color is both bold and yet restrained. The use of negative space is also required to do much of the work. Contrary to what we might imagine, emptiness is full and everything seems to spring from nothing. The resulting visual distillation flirts with Minimalism at times, but not in the way that a rigid movement favors the cool over the dramatic; it is a passion and a product of my search for what is essential.

Molecular Star, 2019, 60x132″, acrylic and charcoal on canvas

Just as my obsessions with energy and duality are constant, there is a sustained dialogue with art history which includes my formative love of European Expressionism and a fascination with Arabic patterns in architecture. My curiosity has led me to travel and live around the world and each port of call has been an opportunity to explore and integrate the unique arts and culture. Since being in the USA, I have become increasingly drawn to Abstract Expressionism, particularly the work of Robert Motherwell and the energy inherent in his unique composition of shapes. I also gravitate to the stringent rigors of American Hard-Edged Abstraction with artists such as Frederick Hammersley, Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg. All contemporary contributors to the discipline interest me and I hope I can bring my own, perhaps more expressive journey to the discussion.

Molecular Patterns #2, 48x36″, 2016, acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas

Presently, I am intrigued to see how my work has come to reflect both the urban architecture that surrounds me in Chicago and my preoccupation with societal problems. I am convinced, as Gaston Bachlelard’s writings on “The Poetics of Space” point out, that all architectural spaces are created with both the physical and moral energy of humanity. I am particularly sensitive to the stunning, lyrical beauty of the urban origami that surrounds me in Chicago. The geometric patterns and shapes in the work have become a language and a metaphor through which I explore this growing dissonance. The cracks, leaks and spaces that appear between the solid pristine forms in my work speak of an underlying fragility and warn of possible future chaos and the ultimate risk of implosion. I’m also beginning a series of large paper wall sculptures that question the same fragility. The fragility and tatty qualities of paper offer a perfect medium through which to explore the subject too.

Molecular Patterns #12, 2016, 48x48″, charcoal, graphite and acrylic on canvas

It’s perhaps important to note that I had launched into this new body of work before the current pandemic! It feels eerily prescient, as if life has caught up with my work faster than I would have ever imagined. Then again, I have always considered my work to be far cleverer than I am!

Molecules of Urban Design Revisited #3, 2019, 30” x 22”, charcoal, acrylic and wool yarn on paper

Owing to our unprecedented current situation, all shows and projects in the pipeline are sadly cancelled or on hold! However, this might predispose people to consider the work with more urgency. For the future: I wish to fill large public spaces with my sometimes enormous narrative paintings and sculptures to create an environment and therefore an experience into which people enter to contemplate all at once the powerful building blocks of energy that we as people and society are created and built upon juxtaposed with our inherent fragility. I want to prompt thought about how we might build a better, more equal and inclusive society for everyone.

Molecules of Urban Design Revisited #4, 2019, 30” x 22”, charcoal, acrylic and wool yarn on fabric

Does feminism play a role in your work?: Not overtly discussed in my work, although I think completely relevant to all women artists. I admit I have been reluctant to engage this question because it can be difficult to separate the problems my more unusual path outside the more conventional art institutions might have engendered…but my experiences lead me to believe that sexism is very alive and well! I am likely to be criticized for being angry, aggressive or bitter. I know I can feel very frustrated sometimes but I learned to observe and not speak up because whatever one says in self-defense simply gets twisted to prove the point. I work hard never to be bitter. That would be a complete waste of time and energy. I hope my work speaks truth to power rather than my words. Although, I admit, as I mature, I grow less ‘ladylike’ and more inclined to say what I really think. Perhaps that’s liberating? I know I have been ignored and passed over many times and presently probably for being a ‘middle-aged’ woman, not young enough, or perhaps old enough to be taken seriously.

Fragile City #1, 2020, 66x216″, acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas

Advice to aspiring artists?: Go to work every day. Never give up. Success is measured by the fact that you’re lucky enough to still be making work, not your bank account.

https://www.jbarthes.com/

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins. LFF Booksis a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017).Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

Current prompt: Home Studios: Show us where you create!

https://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/post/614036096689504256/new-series-call-home-studio

#womenartists #janebarthes

0 notes