Pierre Lamarche

PAINTING
03.18.1993–04.11 2019

Setting aside painting, Pierre Lamarche is presenting a group of sculptures at the Clark Gallery that draw from a world particularly close to his daily life. To create his sculptures, Lamarche uses found materials to which he feels a cultural connection. Even though these materials are considered unusable in terms of their original functions, he does not use them out of a desire to recycle; rather, he does so primarily to appropriate the noble traces that time has left upon them. The works themselves present us with a strikingly elementary figuration from which emanates a certain surrealism that leans strongly toward folk art. This omnipresence of folk art in Pierre Lamarche’s sculptures is undeniable when one considers that, in their creation, wood is the material of choice and the X-Acto knife is the primary tool. The meaning of the works, while important, is far from being educational, political, or related in any way to contemporary art; rather, they are moments of concentration linked to dreams and generated by the objects used as a starting point. Ultimately, Pierre Lamarche’s works are presented to the public as tangible poems.