Galerie Maria Lund
Maibritt ULVEDAL BJELKE
twist & tease - peintures nouvelles
Exposition
Arts plastiques
Galerie Maria Lund
•
Paris 03
➜
Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke pratique depuis vingt ans une peinture où seuls comptent le processus, la couleur, la matière ainsi que l’engagement corporel et intellectuel de sa personne. Son oeuvre témoigne tout à la fois d’une rigueur et d’une grande liberté, où l’acte même de peindre, d’étaler la matière lumineuse, devient respiration.
TANGRAM – peintures nouvelles
Invitée par la Fondation Rothko (Lettonie) à un workshop en 2009, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke y crée étude-for-tangram qui s’inspire du Tangram - jeu solitaire de « casse-tête » chinois dont le nom d’origine Tchi’i Tchi’iao pan signifie « plaquette de sagesse » ou « la plaquette aux sept astuces ». Suivant le système d’imbrication de formes géométriques de ce jeu*, elle réalise une série d’oeuvres carrées de petit format, chacune constituée de deux triangles. De la diagonale centrale jusque vers les bords, l’artiste appose de fines coulures de peinture effectuées tout en retenue, par petits mouvements concentrés, volontaires et maîtrisés. On est bien loin des grands gestes et des larges traits qui prédominaient dans l’oeuvre antérieure.
La série étude-for-tangram marque un tournant dans l’oeuvre de Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke : alors que les coulures étaient jusque-là « les témoins non-intentionnels » de ses grands gestes, elles sont désormais l’expression même, remplaçant la touche qui cherche liberté et élan. Leurs juxtapositions et leurs rencontres dessinent une grille dense et vibrante ; l’application de la couleur arrive par la pesanteur qui entraîne la matière lâchée vers la formation d’une coulure plus au moins longue. Si le choix des couleurs utilisées reste spontané et libre, le cadre de leur jeu est déterminé par le « tangram » de Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke. Celui-ci ne se limite pas aux triangles et aux carrés ; il inclue aussi des rectangles, présentés tantôt en superposition - pour former un carré rayé de coulures à partir du centre, vers le haut et vers le bas – tantôt en juxtaposition, dans une composition horizontale. Par ce système de combinaisons, l’oeuvre peut se déployer, théoriquement, à l’infini.
L’artiste réussit, de nouveau, à défier l’espace pictural, par un processus à la fois systématique et ouvert. Le résultat attire et intrigue ; l’intensité de la lumière qui se dégage des tableaux déclenche un sentiment jubilatoire. L’expérimentation de la forme, le jeu d’optique de la couleur et les surfaces denses, parfois impénétrables, constituent un challenge pour la vue et l’esprit.
Evolution de l’oeuvre
Depuis ses débuts, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke a cherché à garder une ouverture maximale pendant la réalisation d’une oeuvre : au départ, elle travaillait sur des fragments d’affiches de rue, s’offrant ainsi la liberté d’agrandir ou de réduire sa surface de travail. En trempant ces papiers dans la peinture, elle créait de grandes plages irrégulières de couleur. Par la suite, elle s’est mise à travailler la couleur par couches superposées et en larges bandes horizontales. C’est en 2003 que le désir d’un geste de pinceau plus rapide et plus puissant la pousse à coller le papier sur des toiles tendues sur châssis. Ce nouveau procédé entraine un changement majeur : les traits de pinceaux « se mettent debout », du haut vers le bas et inversement, et l’artiste explore les infinies possibilités de la surface en tournant le support dans un sens ou dans un autre. Quelques années plus tard, se sentant limitée par les dimensions prédéfinies du châssis, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke débute l’emploi de formats plus étroits qu’elle travaille individuellement au départ pour les réunir ensuite, créant ainsi des rencontres modulaires et modifiables. Cette démarche trouve un nouvel élan en 2008, année où l’artiste bénéficie d’une résidence à la Josef and Anni Albers Foundation dans le Connecticut : les traits de pinceaux s’allongent, s’affinent et s’imbriquent, faisant naître un filigrane qui résonne dans l’espace du papier blanc, resté nu et très ouvert.
Parcours
L’exposition à venir de Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke (1967), sa cinquième à la GALERIE MARIA LUND (2004, 2005, 2006 et 2008), s’inscrit dans un beau parcours initié à l’ENSBA (1988-1993) avec les professeurs Pierre Matthey, Jan Voss, Claude Viallat et l’indien Navajo Joe Ben Junior.
Le travail de Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke a fait l’objet de nombreuses expositions en France, en Suisse, aux Etats-Unis et au Danemark d’où elle est originaire - dans des galeries (Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Galerie Véronique Smagghe, Galerie Zürcher, Galerie Weinberger, DCA Gallery, Galerie Proarta et Galerie Frédéric Storme) – et dans des institutions (Galerie Municipale de Vitry - lauréate prix Vitry en 1999 - et Kunstcentret Silkeborg Bad avec Paper revisioned). Nombreux sont aussi les articles parus dans la presse (entre autres Connaissances des Arts, AZART, le Nouvel Obs, Politiken, Jyllandsposten et Børsen). En 2004, une émission lui a été consacrée sur France Culture (interview par Marie du Bouchet dans Etats d’art).
Un catalogue retraçant le travail de Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke des dix dernières années est paru en 2007.
A l’occasion de l’exposition un dépliant avec un texte de l’historienne et la critique d’art Ann Hindry est édité.
* La base du Tangram est un carré formé par sept morceaux dont cinq triangles, un carré et un parallélogramme, qui permet de composer diverses figures. Il sert à évaluer la flexibilité, la fluidité et l’originalité créative du joueur.
Complément d'information
For the past twenty years, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s painting was essentially about process, colour, matter as well as the corporal and intellectual involvement of her person. Her work shows both rigorousness and great freedom, where the act of painting itself, the spreading of luminous matter, becomes respiration.
TANGRAM – new paintings
Invited by the Rothko Foundation (Latvia) for a workshop in 2009, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke created etude-for-tangram (study-for-tangram) there, inspired by Tangram – a solitary Chinese ‘brain teaser’ game where the original name Tchi’i Tchi’iao pan means “board of wisdom” or “board of seven tricks”. Following the games* system of interlocking geometric shapes, she has produced a series of small format square paintings, each one made up of two triangles. From the central diagonal to the edges, the artist places fine paint drippings made in retention through small concentrated movements that are both deliberate and mastered. We are a far cry from the large gestures and wide strokes that dominated her previous work.
The series etude-for-tangram (study-for-tangram) marks a turning point in Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s work: whereas up until now the drippings were the ‘unintentional witnesses’ of her large movements, they have become the expression itself, replacing the stroke that seeks freedom and momentum. Their juxtaposition and encounter draws a dense and vibrant grid; the application of colour arrives through force dragging the loosened matter towards the formation of more or less long drippings. If the choice of colours remains spontaneous and free, their playfield is determined by Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s ‘tangram’. The latter is not limited only to triangles and squares; it also includes rectangles, which are either superimposed – to form a square striped with drippings leading from the centre towards the top and bottom – or in juxtaposition, in a horizontal composition. Through this system of combinations, in theory, the work can deploy itself to infinity.
The artist once more succeeds in defying the pictorial space, using a process which is both systematic and open. The result attracts and intrigues. The intensity of light emerging from the artworks releases a jubilatory feeling. The experimentation of form, the optical game of colour and the dense sometimes impenetrable surfaces constitute a challenge for sight and spirit.
Evolution
From the start Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke sought to keep a maximum openness during the realisation of her work: in the beginning she worked on fragments of street posters, giving herself the freedom to increase or reduce the work surface. By soaking her papers in paint, she created large irregular planes of colour. Following that she began to work colour through superimposed layers and large horizontal bands. In 2003 the desire for a faster and stronger paint gesture pushes her to stick the paper on stretched canvas. This new procedure leads to a major change: the brush strokes ‘stand-up’, from top to bottom and inversely. The artist explores the infinite possibilities of the surface by turning the support in one direction or another. A few years later, feeling limited by the predefined size of the canvas, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke begins to use narrower formats. Working with each format on its own initially and then by bringing the canvases together, she thus creates modular and modifiable encounters. This approach finds a new impulse in 2008, when the artist benefits from a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut: the brush strokes become longer, thinner and interwoven, giving birth to filigree that resonate on the white paper space remaining naked and very open.
Background
The upcoming Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke (1967) exhibition, her fifth at the GALERIE MARIA LUND (2004, 2005, 2006 et 2008), is part of an impressive career initiated at ENSBA (1988-1993) with the professors Pierre Matthey, Jan Voss, Claude Viallat and the Navajo Indian Joe Ben Junior.
Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke works have been shown in numerous exhibitions in France, Switzerland, the United States and Denmark where she originates from – in gallery’s (Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Galerie Véronique Smagghe, Galerie Zürcher, Galerie Weinberger, DCA Gallery, Galerie Proarta and Galerie Frédéric Storme) – and in institutions (Galerie Municipale de Vitry – prize winner in 1999 – and Kunstcentret Silkeborg Bad with Paper revisioned). Equally, there are numerous articles in the press (amongst others Connaissances des Arts, AZART, le Nouvel Obs, Politiken, Jyllandsposten and Børsen). In 2004, a program was dedicated to her on France Culture (interview by Marie du Bouchet in Etats d’art).
A catalogue retracing Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke work over the last ten years was published in 2007.
For the exhibition a brochure texted by the art historian and critic Ann Hindry will be published
* The basis of Tangram is a square made up of seven parts of which five triangles, one square and a parallelogram, whereby diverse figures can be composed. Its purpose is to evaluate the flexibility, fluidity and the creative originality of the player.
TANGRAM – new paintings
Invited by the Rothko Foundation (Latvia) for a workshop in 2009, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke created etude-for-tangram (study-for-tangram) there, inspired by Tangram – a solitary Chinese ‘brain teaser’ game where the original name Tchi’i Tchi’iao pan means “board of wisdom” or “board of seven tricks”. Following the games* system of interlocking geometric shapes, she has produced a series of small format square paintings, each one made up of two triangles. From the central diagonal to the edges, the artist places fine paint drippings made in retention through small concentrated movements that are both deliberate and mastered. We are a far cry from the large gestures and wide strokes that dominated her previous work.
The series etude-for-tangram (study-for-tangram) marks a turning point in Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s work: whereas up until now the drippings were the ‘unintentional witnesses’ of her large movements, they have become the expression itself, replacing the stroke that seeks freedom and momentum. Their juxtaposition and encounter draws a dense and vibrant grid; the application of colour arrives through force dragging the loosened matter towards the formation of more or less long drippings. If the choice of colours remains spontaneous and free, their playfield is determined by Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke’s ‘tangram’. The latter is not limited only to triangles and squares; it also includes rectangles, which are either superimposed – to form a square striped with drippings leading from the centre towards the top and bottom – or in juxtaposition, in a horizontal composition. Through this system of combinations, in theory, the work can deploy itself to infinity.
The artist once more succeeds in defying the pictorial space, using a process which is both systematic and open. The result attracts and intrigues. The intensity of light emerging from the artworks releases a jubilatory feeling. The experimentation of form, the optical game of colour and the dense sometimes impenetrable surfaces constitute a challenge for sight and spirit.
Evolution
From the start Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke sought to keep a maximum openness during the realisation of her work: in the beginning she worked on fragments of street posters, giving herself the freedom to increase or reduce the work surface. By soaking her papers in paint, she created large irregular planes of colour. Following that she began to work colour through superimposed layers and large horizontal bands. In 2003 the desire for a faster and stronger paint gesture pushes her to stick the paper on stretched canvas. This new procedure leads to a major change: the brush strokes ‘stand-up’, from top to bottom and inversely. The artist explores the infinite possibilities of the surface by turning the support in one direction or another. A few years later, feeling limited by the predefined size of the canvas, Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke begins to use narrower formats. Working with each format on its own initially and then by bringing the canvases together, she thus creates modular and modifiable encounters. This approach finds a new impulse in 2008, when the artist benefits from a residency at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut: the brush strokes become longer, thinner and interwoven, giving birth to filigree that resonate on the white paper space remaining naked and very open.
Background
The upcoming Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke (1967) exhibition, her fifth at the GALERIE MARIA LUND (2004, 2005, 2006 et 2008), is part of an impressive career initiated at ENSBA (1988-1993) with the professors Pierre Matthey, Jan Voss, Claude Viallat and the Navajo Indian Joe Ben Junior.
Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke works have been shown in numerous exhibitions in France, Switzerland, the United States and Denmark where she originates from – in gallery’s (Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Galerie Véronique Smagghe, Galerie Zürcher, Galerie Weinberger, DCA Gallery, Galerie Proarta and Galerie Frédéric Storme) – and in institutions (Galerie Municipale de Vitry – prize winner in 1999 – and Kunstcentret Silkeborg Bad with Paper revisioned). Equally, there are numerous articles in the press (amongst others Connaissances des Arts, AZART, le Nouvel Obs, Politiken, Jyllandsposten and Børsen). In 2004, a program was dedicated to her on France Culture (interview by Marie du Bouchet in Etats d’art).
A catalogue retracing Maibritt Ulvedal Bjelke work over the last ten years was published in 2007.
For the exhibition a brochure texted by the art historian and critic Ann Hindry will be published
* The basis of Tangram is a square made up of seven parts of which five triangles, one square and a parallelogram, whereby diverse figures can be composed. Its purpose is to evaluate the flexibility, fluidity and the creative originality of the player.
Autres artistes présentés
Maibritt ULVEDAL BJELKE
Accès mobilité réduite
Oui
Adresse
Galerie Maria Lund
48 rue de Turenne
75003 Paris 03
France
Comment s'y rendre
M°1 - St Paul
Dernière mise à jour le 2 mars 2020