Tide Fulcrum & The Motion of Fixed Stars

Press Release

Nicelle Beauchene Gallery is pleased to announce Tide Fulcrum & The Motion of Fixed Stars, an exhibition of new drawings by Louise Despont. This exhibition, which is the artist’s third solo show with the gallery, will be the inaugural exhibition for our new space at 327 Broome Street.

Throughout the works in the exhibition, Despont traces a wide-ranging continuum between ancient zodiac structures, early modes of navigation, divination techniques of geomancy and gravitational influences of both the sun and moon. The myriad of relationships drawn place emphasis on the historical use of synchronous systems to understand our world and the cultural influences these systems have had on language, calendars, art, music and mythology.

Despont’s signature use of antique ledger book pages takes an expansive step forward with the integration of copper leaf in her series Constellation Symptoms. Furthering the idea that the works operate as points of departure into telepathy and meditation, the copper filaments activate these drawings as conduits for understanding celestial navigation, the alignments of the night sky and lunar mansions (segments of the zodiac through which the moon moves). Borrowing part of the exhibition’s title from Iranian astronomer Al-Sufi’s Book of Fixed Stars, Despont explores the relationships between this Arabic manuscript and the astronomical texts that relate to ancient Greek Mythology.

In Serpens, the artist’s largest work to date, Despont marks the constellation Ophiuchus and Serpens as a reference point. Using a Persian rug as the background, Despont integrates elements of this Greek constellation with the ancient ideas and practices of Persian carpet weaving. Just as the Persians believed that through rendering and layering the floral patterns of paradise onto carpets, they were able to bring heaven to earth, Despont metaphorically brings the celestial bodies to these textiles. Through the structure of Despont’s weave, her complex designs emerge which suffuse the works in the exhibition, extending the translation of her symbols and motifs to reflect an inscription of language and narrative in her work.

Louise Despont received her BA in Art Semiotics at Brown University in 2006. Recent solo shows include The Fool, IBID Projects, London and The Directory, IMO Projects, Copenhagen. She has also been included in exhibitions at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York; and 1/9 Unosunove Arte Contemporanea, Rome. Additionally, the artist will have a solo show with Galerie Isa, Mumbai this coming spring. A book for the artist will be produced to coincide with the exhibition. The book has been published in collaboration with IBID Projects, London.