CECILE DAVIDOVIC AND DAVID CTIBORSKY: THE SILENT LIFE
From the outset of her career as a textile artist, Cécile Davidovici has placed the representation of the sensitive, both literally and figuratively, at the heart of her work. Childhood memories, the intensity of a bond, the delicacy of skin, or the folds of a fabric drape, find a strikingly authentic evocation in the threads embroidered on canvas. The expressiveness and hyperrealism of her paintings are nourished by a contemporary and personal reinterpretation of needle painting techniques, in a style that is both decisive and delicate.
Image:Cécile Davidovici, Reflets sur le marbre vert/Reflections on green marble 2023, cotton threads on linen, 26 x 44 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici. Image above:Cécile Davidovici, Le poids des choses/The weight of things 2023, cotton threads on linen 26 x 40 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The realism of her representations is not simply a celebration of form, but rather guides the viewer towards a questioning of the profound truth of life. For La vie silencieuse, Cécile Davidovici and David Ctiborsky have reformed the tandem that has already given birth to two series: 1988 and La saison des feux. Their collaboration, nourished by their shared attention to framing and the infinite subtleties of light, takes the form of an intense dialogue in which composition anticipates constraints and invokes the small miracles of embroidery.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, de au petit matin / Early morning study 2023, cotton threads on linen, 29 x 40 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
In 1988, evoking the work of memory through mise en abyme, the embroidered paintings reproduced photograms taken from Cécile Davidovici's childhood videotapes, faithfully depicting both the faces and the video artefacts associated with the ageing of the tapes. La saison des feux, on the other hand, started in the imaginary: composed by David Ctiborsky using 3D modeling software before being embroidered by Cécile Davidovici, it depicted objects of unstable realism and elusive form, despite being credible, almost palpable.
La vie silencieuse series reproduces this process. This time, however, the painting's referents, though entirely digitally created, seem to be drawn from tangible reality. The embroidery work, tending towards hyperrealism, tears them out of the virtual space to make them overflow into the real, almost to the point of an excess typical of Cécile Davidovici's poetry.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, Un souffle / A breath 2023, cotton threads on linen, 15 x 25 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The paintings in this series are unmistakably still life's, bringing together objects, vegetables and fruit in harmonious compositions, clever assemblages that mimic a happy coincidence. Contemporary everyday objects are brought to life in compositions inspired by classical tradition, initiating a dialogue between eras.
The painting comes alive. Things are not simply placed there. By their mere arrangement, they already enter into a relationship and begin to tell a story. The scene unfolds before our eyes, becoming a narrative. Behind the apparent immobility, movement emerges: the wind in a curtain, light spilling out, a blueberry rolling into place.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, Nature morte à la pierre bleue / Still life with blue stone 2023, cotton threads on linen, 28 x 48 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The organic, the mineral and the manufactured rub shoulders and echo each other. Flowers and fruit, still bursting with water, sap and fragrance, illuminate the table. The stones are heavy, angular and harsh, though softened by the amber light that skims over them. Heavy responds to light, empty to full, shadow to light. Restoring the silent conversation of objects, the paintings of this series open a door to dreams, to a place beyond reality in which the inanimate also has its share of life.
La Vie Silencieuse (The Silent life), that will be held at Est Galerie, 76 rue Saint-Maur 75011, Paris, France from 12-19 October 2023.
Find out more about Cécile Davidovici:
www.ceciledavidovici.com
@ceciledavidovici
Image:Cécile Davidovici, Reflets sur le marbre vert/Reflections on green marble 2023, cotton threads on linen, 26 x 44 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici. Image above:Cécile Davidovici, Le poids des choses/The weight of things 2023, cotton threads on linen 26 x 40 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The realism of her representations is not simply a celebration of form, but rather guides the viewer towards a questioning of the profound truth of life. For La vie silencieuse, Cécile Davidovici and David Ctiborsky have reformed the tandem that has already given birth to two series: 1988 and La saison des feux. Their collaboration, nourished by their shared attention to framing and the infinite subtleties of light, takes the form of an intense dialogue in which composition anticipates constraints and invokes the small miracles of embroidery.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, de au petit matin / Early morning study 2023, cotton threads on linen, 29 x 40 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
In 1988, evoking the work of memory through mise en abyme, the embroidered paintings reproduced photograms taken from Cécile Davidovici's childhood videotapes, faithfully depicting both the faces and the video artefacts associated with the ageing of the tapes. La saison des feux, on the other hand, started in the imaginary: composed by David Ctiborsky using 3D modeling software before being embroidered by Cécile Davidovici, it depicted objects of unstable realism and elusive form, despite being credible, almost palpable.
La vie silencieuse series reproduces this process. This time, however, the painting's referents, though entirely digitally created, seem to be drawn from tangible reality. The embroidery work, tending towards hyperrealism, tears them out of the virtual space to make them overflow into the real, almost to the point of an excess typical of Cécile Davidovici's poetry.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, Un souffle / A breath 2023, cotton threads on linen, 15 x 25 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The paintings in this series are unmistakably still life's, bringing together objects, vegetables and fruit in harmonious compositions, clever assemblages that mimic a happy coincidence. Contemporary everyday objects are brought to life in compositions inspired by classical tradition, initiating a dialogue between eras.
The painting comes alive. Things are not simply placed there. By their mere arrangement, they already enter into a relationship and begin to tell a story. The scene unfolds before our eyes, becoming a narrative. Behind the apparent immobility, movement emerges: the wind in a curtain, light spilling out, a blueberry rolling into place.
Image: Cécile Davidovici, Nature morte à la pierre bleue / Still life with blue stone 2023, cotton threads on linen, 28 x 48 cm, unique piece © Cécile Davidovici.
The organic, the mineral and the manufactured rub shoulders and echo each other. Flowers and fruit, still bursting with water, sap and fragrance, illuminate the table. The stones are heavy, angular and harsh, though softened by the amber light that skims over them. Heavy responds to light, empty to full, shadow to light. Restoring the silent conversation of objects, the paintings of this series open a door to dreams, to a place beyond reality in which the inanimate also has its share of life.
La Vie Silencieuse (The Silent life), that will be held at Est Galerie, 76 rue Saint-Maur 75011, Paris, France from 12-19 October 2023.
Find out more about Cécile Davidovici:
www.ceciledavidovici.com
@ceciledavidovici