NES - L'Antre

The Cave

30.5x17x121 cm

2014

Varnished

Unique work signed on the base by NES, French artist sculptor in metal
Steel sculpture
Metalworking sculpture technique, welding
Varnished
Delivered with invoice and certificate of authenticity
Excellent condition
Weight of the sculpture: 4700 grams
Shipped via Colissimo with tracking and insured

Biography

Nes is a Bordeaux-based artist living in the Médoc. She was born in 1979. A metal designer, she creates sculptures and furniture from recovered metal pieces. Her work has a strong presence, a definite identity drawn from a baroque universe and strongly inspired by punk iconography.
Very early, this young woman turns to artistic creation. It is in 2003, as she finishes her university studies with a degree in Applied Foreign Languages, that she discovers the art of working metal during a trip to Cuba. This discovery, which she experiences as a true revelation, leads her to redirect her studies. She undergoes a qualifying training in metallurgy at IFIP in 2004, then a specialization in 2006 as an industrial and aerospace welding technician. While continuing to explore contemporary artistic creation autodidactically, she completes her training by becoming a qualified pyrotechnician in 2008.
Her works quickly caught the art world’s eye, standing out by a strong singularity and earning several articles in the press (see press dossier). In 2007 she won a Défi-Jeunes, a program set up by the Ministry of Youth. For her, it was a true catalyst that propelled her toward professionalism. From then on, she was frequently commissioned at regional, national, and international levels. In 2009 she represented France in the international competition of the Jeux de la Francophonie and exhibited at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut. In 2010, she was invited to UNESCO in Paris where she presented her work in a solo show. As the national laureate of the Envie d’Agir program, she received the 2nd prize in cultural creation awarded by the High Commissioner for Youth. At the regional level in Aquitaine and Charente, she received the 2nd prize in art design from Rotary District 1690.
Drouot appraisal during the public auction “Young Contemporary Creation” (March 22, 2014, Hôtel Drouot, Paris).

Artistic approach

“At 5 years old, I visited with my parents the torture museum under the Inquisition in Santillana del Mar. The capacity of the human being to make others suffer horrified and fascinated me at the same time. I was terrified by the ingenuity with which humanity has developed so much monstrousness. My work transcends this monstrosity by a look of gentleness that hides what humanity can hold of violence within it. I want to show the dark side of humanity, the human experience of suffering, the ability of man to hide the part of horror he buries deep inside himself, in order to highlight the passage from shadow to light.”
By freeing her gesture, Nes reveals through her sculptures a baroque and poetic universe. She draws on the power of metal to bring the viewer into her world of arabesques, curves, and chains. Strength in the material, fragility in the airy forms that spring from a complex imagination. From darkness to light, from chain to steel lace…
A baroque world, another more playful one, both converge toward the same goal: to give back a soul to forgotten industrial elements. Playing with appearances, shadows, light, and contrasts, treating hostile materials until they are artistically guided toward softness and lightness. Her artistic signature, expressed through the use of chainsawed bars, earned her the press nickname “the iron lace-maker.” Ambivalence between form and matter, subtlety of plastic language, misappropriation of materials.
“The questions that drive me: how to exercise discernment and live in society while considering that everyone can have a part of monstrosity within them? What are the limits of humanity’s extreme behaviors? How to detach from daily reality, from the illusions of our perception to ease this suffering, to stop hiding this dark part of ourselves? How to free oneself from prejudices and challenge appearances? How to live with this dark side of the soul? Meditate, accept, deny, rebel, renounce?”

Selected exhibitions

Exhibition “Resonances” for the 500th anniversary of Sainte-Chapelle and artist residency (09/09-06/11/21; residency: 21-25/09/21, Le Trampoline, Vic-le-Comte (63))
Exhibition and selection at the “3rd International Sculpture Competition” of the Biennale Europea d’Arte Fabbrile di Stia (02/09-05/09/21, Stia, Italy)
International symposium “Metal sympozium” and exhibition on the “Metal Trail” (11/06/18-15/06/18, Mlada Boleslav, Central Bohemia, Czech Republic)
Exhibition during the SNBA 2018 Fine Arts Fair (13/12-16/12/18, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris)
Exhibition “Arts du feu” at the H.R Giger Museum (17/10-23/10/15, Gruyères, Switzerland)
Exhibition at Capa Esculturas gallery (12/09-21/10/2014, Madrid, Spain)
Exhibition “Pas à pas” (09/05-09/06/14, L’Ouviigné, Belgium)
Exhibition at the “Feria Internacional del Arte de Granada” (07/05-12/05/12, Churriana de la Vega, Granada, Spain)
Exhibition at “FIARTE 2012” (08/04-20/04/12, Churriana de la Vega, Granada, Spain)
Exhibition at the “Salon internacional de Mujeres Artistas” (06/03-22/03/12, Maracena, Granada, Spain)
Permanent sculpture exhibition “Carpe Diem”: private collection of the Riviera Hotel & Beach Lounge (from 14/05/11, Corniche El Manara, P.O. Box: 11-4021 Riad El Solh 1107 2150, Beirut, Lebanon)
Exhibition of fresh works created during the art symposium “Riviera Fusion” (12/05-30/06/11, Riviera Hotel & Beach Lounge, Corniche El Manara, Beirut, Lebanon)
Exhibition and selection at the international Jeux de la Francophonie competition. Residency. Intervention at a school in Saïda. (27/09/09-06/10/09, UNESCO Palace, Beirut, Lebanon)
Permanent sculpture exhibition “Pulsations and Convergences”: private collection of the Grand Lycée Franco-Libanais (from 06/10/09, Beirut, Lebanon)

Public orders / Public collections

Public commission by the Lacanau town hall: monumental sculpture “Fòrga” created in homage to the heritage site “La Forge” - Permanent exhibition in front of the town hall (07/24, Lacanau (33))
Commission from the Directorate Interregional for Judicial Youth Protection (DIRPJJ) – Southwest – (Trophies for the “Parcours du goût” -(13.5x17x35 cm-11.5x16x29.5 cm-11.5x14.5x26.5 cm)-(07/23))
Acquisition of the sculpture “La Force d'âme” by the Vic-le-Comte town hall and the Departmental Council of Puy-de-Dôme (Le Trampoline, Place de l’Olme, Vic-le-Comte (63) (11/13/21))
Acquisition of the sculpture “Thétis” by the Departmental Council of Charente-Maritime (Atrium of the La Rochelle Charente House, La Rochelle (17) (08/20/18))
Acquisition of the sculpture “The Dark Tower” by the town hall of Aiguillon (47) (12/10/16))
Acquisition of the sculpture “Les Trois Portes” by the Beychac et Cailleau media library/art library (10/05/16))
Public commission: Lacanau town hall. Sculpture created during the urban residency and public performance “Urban Welding Art” (05/03-12/05/13, Place de la Basilique, Soulac-sur-Mer)
Public commission: UEAJ 33. Practical training with youths from the Judicial Youth Protection, with a goal of social and professional integration (2013, UEAJ 33, Bordeaux)
Public commission: Gironde General Council. Trophies “Mission Agenda 21” (10/15/2012, Gironde General Council, Bordeaux)
Public commission: UEAJ 33: creation of paintings for the restaurant training “Le P’tit Creux”. Practical training with youths from the Judicial Youth Protection, with a goal of social and professional integration (05-11/05/12; 14-15/05/12; 05-08/06/12; 11-18/06/12, Listrac-Médoc workshop)
Public commission: Avensan town hall: 20th anniversary of twinning with Castrillo de Murcia (04/2012)
Creation of a monumental mission cross (02/2012, Avensan town hall (33))
Public commission: creation of a monumental sculpture for the entrance of a media library (Inauguration on 10/09/11, Beychac et Cailleau)
Creation of trophies for the Michelet Challenge. Practical training with youths from the Judicial Youth Protection, with a goal of social and professional integration. (2010/2011, UEAJ 33)
Creation of sculptures for the school parking lot. Project with participation of children. (2009, Avensan town hall (33))