new website coming soon...

OR...or...

What came first? The work or the artist? The gallery or the work? The artist or the gallery?

Sandrine Llouquet would probably answer OR. This or that, two paths that have their own paths and lead us to different perspectives on the drifts of art and artistic poesis. The path that is carved out to reach the work is made up of pieces. These are what make up the narrative and the body of her works. Mixed, transformed, rethought, and manipulated, they take on a shape and history. They are pieces with a life of their own that sometimes fall asleep and can suddenly wake up and be utilized in a moment of rationality by the artist. As the contemporary philosopher Gilbert Simondon said, being is not exhausted in the individual; it overflows. For Sandrine, the artist is just another part of the work, full of incompleteness that the viewer - the potential energy - will fill in.

The very title of the exhibition refers to an "unfinished work." Capitulo 5 - em breve (Chapter 5 – upcoming) points to previous chapters written by the artist and to others that will emerge: "is finishing not finished." Sandrine's artistic corpus should be analyzed as if it were a book. We know that it began with the first chapter, but we do not know, including the artist, when it will end, that is, if this artistic corpus book will have a conclusion or even final considerations. We can see that the exhibition is full of thought, and that thought needs something to produce its lines, rhizomes, and new paths. In Sandrine's case, these lines-rhizomes-paths come from the poetic encounter with mystery.

Furthermore, this is only desirable as a way of escaping to something unexplained and not as a conclusion/unraveling or discovery of something. Mystery here functions as an awakener that confronts the multiplicities of the self and distances itself from the simple retentions of mere memory reproduction. For the artist, mystery immerses her in materials relating to a wide range of objects, colors, and sounds, and in her living unconscious: the tables with the various pieces on display are a living unconscious. An unconscious that is not what is not conscious but what goes beyond consciousness: infinite multiplicity full of dimensions. They are the active being in the work's becoming, where everything that exists is related to what 19th-century French philosopher Maine de Biran called the primitive fact of intimate meaning: the "ego" or center of indeterminacy for Bergson.

Let us be open to this primitive, intimate sense that Sandrine presents us in this exhibition. We will possibly be able to see in it an authentic cabinet of curiosities where a doll with a tail, bought in Bali, OR a skull of a saber-toothed tiger brought from Tokyo, are parts of a larger narrative that the artist wants to permanently rethink in a relationship with the one who observes them: the viewer.

Pedro Arrifano

"Momo mix", watercolor, ink, pencil on paper, photocopies, variable dimension, 2023

Sandrine Llouquet

Visual artist

Born, 1975 in Montpellier, France.

Lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal

Miscellany

From January 2021

Founder of O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon, Portugal

https://ogabinetedemadamethao.com

September 2019 - September 2020

Grantee (Orient Foundation Research Grant), Lisbon, Portugal

June 2016 - July 2019

Director of Salon Saigon - Heritage and Contemporary Arts Museum, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

http://salonsaigon.com

2017 - 2019

Jury member of Villa Saigon (artists´ residency program by Institut Francais a Ho Chi Minh ville), Vietnam

2006 - 2010

Founding member of the Vietnamese collective Mogas Station

2000-2011

Founding member of Wonderful and Wonderful District with Bertrand Peret

2007 - 2015

VJing under the name of Discocactus

2010 -  Present

Member of Digital Mekong Creative Network

2011 - 2013

Founding member of Saigon Creative monthly talks, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2007 – 2010

Member of Jetlag – a Vietnam-based DJs and VJ collective

Education

1993 – 1997     

École Pilote Internationale d’Art et de Recherche - Villa Arson, Nice, France

Diplôme National d’arts Plastiques

1997 – 1998     

Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Art, Vietnam

1998 – 1999     

École Pilote Internationale d’Art et de Recherche - Villa Arson, Nice, France

Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique

Selected Exhibitions

2023

"Capítulo 5: Em breve", A Base, Lisbon, Portugal (solo)

Le voyage suspendu, Showroom Vinfast, Paris, France

"Bau", Metaxu, Toulon, France

Neverwhere, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2022

Art at the Park - Saigon Contemporary Art Fair, Park Hyatt Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2020

Natura, ARTFEM Macau Biennale, China (catalog)

Lunar Breccia, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

10 ans, Le Point Commun, Annecy, France

2019

Where the Sea Remembers, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, US

Chapitre 4 : Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo)

2018

Alluvium, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2017

Chapitre 3: Les 101 grandes deesses, Le Point Commun, Annecy, France (solo)

The Foliage, VCCA, Hanoi, Vietnam

Iris noirs resilients, Montpellier, France

2016

The Cabinet of Doctor Komo, Kenpoku Art, Ibaraki, Japan (solo) (catalog)

La diagonale du fou, SPRMRKT, Singapore (solo)

Transmutations, Galerie Quynh, Ho chi Minh city, Vietnam

2015

Chapitre 2: Midi, L'Espace, Hanoi, Vietnam (solo)

Carne Vale, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (duo show)

The Primacy of Drawing, Dia Project, Ho chi Minh city, Vietnam

2014

Daisy, Daisy, San Art Production, Phuong My Flagship Store, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo)

Papier(s), Fondation Salomon, Annecy, France

Drop, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Spring Galleria, San Art, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Galerie Quynh 10th anniversary, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

On the streets, Java Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2013

Chapter 1: Where I attempt to drown the dragon, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo)

Day of Discovery, Renaissance Riverside Hotel, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo)

Sovereign Asian Art Prize exhibition and auction in Singapore, Espace Louis Vuitton, Singapore

2012

Ligne de fuite, Post Vidai Collection, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo) (brochure)

AAA Annual Foundraiser, Sotherby's, Hong Kong

Group show, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2011

Vis a vis, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Shaping a line, San Art, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Esperantopolis, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Mise en scene, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

The Art of Travel, Air France event, Flow, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Now Boarding. Island Thinking and Flights of Fancy, Give Art Space, Singapore

I would prefer not to, Give Art Space, Singapore (solo)

2010

ART HK 10, with Galerie Quynh, Hong Kong

No Soul For Sale 2, with Sanart, Tate Modern, London, UK

The Complex of the Glass Frog, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (solo)

Collective Memories: Together in Electric Dreams, Give Art, Singapore

No conical hat, Give Art, Singapore

Of reveries and obsessions, Galerie Quynh. Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Bordeaux Block Party, Eponyme Galerie, Bordeaux, France

2009

Half of the Sky, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Hanoi Future Art, Hanoi, Vietnam
Nghe Thuat Sap Dat, Ho Tram resort, Vietnam
Who Do You Think We Are?, Bui Gallery, Hanoi, Vietnam

New Asian Promises, Palais Project, Vienna, Austria

2008

FOBII: Arts speaks (curated by Tram Le, Lan Duong), VAALA Center, Santa Ana, Californie, USA

Olio the year end show, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

transPOP:  Korea Vietnam Remix, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, US

Art multiple, Ke Center for the Contemporary Arts, Shanghai, China

transPOP:  Korea Vietnam Remix, ARKO Art Center, Seoul, South Korea

Supervues, Hotel Burrhus, Vaison  la Romaine, France

Ce que je dis trois fois est absolument vrai, 3x+, Le mois de l’image, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam (solo) (catalog)

Milk, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (solo) (catalog)

2007

Requiem for a wall, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Shenzhen Biennale (with Mogas Station), China (brochure)

Le mois de l’image (with Mogas Station), Ho Chi Minh City Fine Art Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Migration Addicts (with Mogas Station), a collateral event of the 52nd Venice Biennale, Piazza San Marco, Venice, Italy (brochure and catalog)

2006

LZ (with Mogas Station), Goethe-Institut, Hanoi, Vietnam

Belief (with Mogas Station), Singapore Biennale 2006 (brochure and catalog)

Jouissance, Xu Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Welcome Home, itinerant exhibition organized by Ipso Facto Gallery, Nantes, France (solo)

2005

Troi oi!, Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (solo) (brochure)

Rendezvous, Blue Space Contemporary Art Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

2004

Bleu presque transparent, Galerie Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux, France (solo)

Chambre d’amis, Sandrine Llouquet and Bertrand Peret’s apartment, Bordeaux, France (solo)

Aujourd’hui c’est ravioli, Galerie Cortex Athletico, Bordeaux, France

Buy sellf, municipal spaces, Marseille, France

2003

Livre N°12 (published by Peravprod), La Quincaillerie, Bordeaux, France

Soleil sur Nantes, Show Bedroom, Nantes, France

Ctrl+O, Inkorporation, Toulouse, France

2002

Kiki restaurant, Chez Chalana, Bordeaux, France (solo)

2001

Generic Workspace, Bordeaux, France

Buy sellf, Galerie BF15, Lyon, France

2000

Un thé chez les fous, No Beach, Bordeaux, France (solo)

1999

3 en k, Galerie rue Quineleu, Rennes, France

1998

Hoa si tre, Long Phi, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

1997

Tôi là ai, Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Art, Vietnam

1995

Nice by night, with Villa Arson, Nice, France

Performance / Directing, staging

2019

Lub Qhoj Rooj, performance, 20´, co-directed with choreographer Nguyen Phuc Hung, Krossing Over Arts Festival, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2018

Perinthia, performance, 20', with dancer Nguyen Minh Tam and musicians Zach Shreier and Benoit Bottex, Krossing Over Arts Festival, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

2003

Thucnd1 Online, video performance, 6' - Incomprehension (with Le Pavillon), Palais de Tokyo site de création contemporaine, Paris, France

 Curating and art direction

2021 - today

O Gabinete de Madame Thao´s cultural programming

2023

Bau (André Almeida e Sousa, Luís Almeida, Constança Arouca, Francisca Carvalho, Run Jiang, Pedro Proença, Benoit Bottex, Sandrine Llouquet), Metaxu, Toulon

2022

1 (André Almeida e Sousa, Luís Almeida, Constança Arouca & Madalena Parreira, Francisca Carvalho, Nina Fraser, Run Jiang, Le Phi Long, Florian Song Nguyen, Bertrand Peret, Thao Nguyen Phan, Pedro Proença, Quentin Spohn, Truc-Anh and Mai-Loan Tu), O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon

Syzygie, um ritual para o Oceano (Filipe Lourenco, Florian Song Nguyen, Bao Vuong), LX Factory, Lisbon
Ainda não sabemos ao certo que florestas vamos atravessar (Nadege David, Hoang Duong Cam, Le Phi Long, Bertrand Peret, Pedro Proenca, Francisca Carvalho), O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon

2021

Historias de boudoir (Francisca Carvalho, Nina Fraser, Hoang Nam Viet, Florian Song Nguyen, Truc-Anh, Mai Loan Tu, João Vilhena), O Gabinete de Madame Thao, Lisbon

2016 - 2019

Salon Saigon cultural programming

2018

Les Villes Invisibles / Festival Krossing Over (Bao Vuong, Florian Nguyen, Sto Len, Hoang Nguyen, Dat Vu), Metaxu, Toulon

2017

Then I Can Turn the World Upside Down (Florian Nguyen, Hoang Nam Viet, Nguyen Manh Hung, Mai Hoang, Le Hoang Bich Phuong), Salon Saigon

To shut his thoughts up, he paints them clear and watches them dry (Mai Loan Tu), L'Usine, Ho Chi Minh city

Salon Saigon Permanent Collection (Bùi Công Khánh, Tiffany Chung, Hà Mạnh Thắng, Hoàng Dương Cầm, Chinh Lê, Dinh Q. Lê, Lê Hoàng Bích Phượng, Lê Thừa Tiến, Nguyễn BanGa, Nguyễn Hữu Trâm Kha, Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Oanh Phi Phi, The Propeller Group, Trần Trọng Vũ, Truc Anh, Trương Tiến Trà, Trương Tân and Võ Trân Châu), Salon Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city

2016

Bittersweet Whispers (Mai-Loan Tu, Ngo Thi Thuy Duyen, Le Hoang Bich Phuong), Salon Saigon, Ho Chi Minh city

2008

AliceIN Miami (with Tam Vo Phi, Olivier Llouquet ang guest Stephane Cochard), organized by Bui Gallery, Miami Beach, US (with Wonderful District)

AliceIN Paris (with Tam Vo Phi, Olivier Llouquet and guest Rachid Ouramdane), organized by Bui Gallery, Paris, France (with Wonderful District)

2007

AliceIN Saigon (with Tam Vo Phi, Olivier Llouquet, Richard Streitmatter-Tran, Robert Cianchi, Nhu Huy), Le mois de l’image, Fine Art Museum, Galerie Quynh, IDECAF, Ho Chi Minh City Photography Association, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – four nights of installation, video and sound performances in the nomadic architectural structure AliceIN (with Wonderful District)

A Wonderful Weekend, 72-13, Singapore - 3 days of exhibition, video projection, talks, sound performances, DJ and VJ nights – with Stephane Cochard, NS101, Madame Patate, Fugu, Vu Nhat Tan, Jean Phan, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Robert Cianchi, Tam Vo Phi (with Wonderful District)

2006

Atelier Wonderful, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam - public programming included lectures on the visual arts, architecture, design, illustration, graffiti and other creative expressions; exhibitions, video projections; concerts; presentations of work by students.  Events occurred weekly over five months – with Delphine Trouche, BOOT, GF, G2, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Julie Tseselsky, George Papadimas, Bui Cong Khanh, Justin Barrera, Anna Tuyen Tran, Do Hoang Tuong, Jean-Baptiste Bressy, Richard Streitmatter-Tran, Nhu Huy, Bruno Peinado, Motoko Uda, Seiji Shimoda, Thach Thao, Maharishi, Bui The Trung Nam, Laure Bollinger, Gulschan Gothel, Laurent Jeanneau, Nicolas Lainez, Tam Vo Phi, Karen Maldonado, Ecole Colette, British school… (with Wonderful District)

2005

Rendezvous (electronic and digital art event), Blue Space Contemporary Art Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – with the participation of Heidi, Tran Kim Ngoc, Rich Streitmatter-Tran, Bui Cong Khanh, Benoit Maire (with Wonderful District)

Sunday morning, Galerie Fra Angelico, Nantes, France – publication in collaboration with Frederic Amproux

2003 (with Wonderful)

Fémina squat, La Pieuvre, Point Noire, Republic of Congo - workshop and exhibition with a group of congolese artists organized by PSAP (with Wonderful)

Wonderful, Lendroit, Rennes, France (with Wonderful)

2002 – 2004

5ememur magazine (trimestrial magazine/nomadic art space welcoming artists site specific works) – with the participation of Paul Devautour, Seulgi Lee, Ciaddict.org, Laetitia Bourget, Erational, Julien Previeux, Beate Engl, Damien Mazieres, Remi Marie, Marc Vernier, Arnaud Maguet, Francoise Quardon, Pascale Martine-Tayou, Laurent Septier, Frederic Latherrade, Jean-Luc Desmond, Arnaud Ducasse, Bui Cong Khanh, Camille Fallet, Karin Pelte, Pierre Giquel, Maitetxu Etcheverria, Karim Ghelloussi, Patrice Ferreira, Axel Huber, Alexander Raima, Sebastien Blanco, PNCI, Jean-Luc Verna, Inkorporation, Patrich Hospital, Sylvain Courtoux, Anne-Marie Pecheur, Julien Bouillon

2001 (with Wonderful)

Aller-retour, artistic exchange between Bordeaux and Nantes – exhibitions in museums, cinemas, apartments, art galleries, cafes, night clubs - with the participation of 36 artists and collectives from Bordeaux and Nantes

2000 (with Wonderful)

No Beach, itinerant exhibition in apartments and a night club, Bordeaux – with the participation of 8 international artists and collectives (with Wonderful)

Participation in symposiums and conferences

2019

Art and Museum Summit - Getty Foundation / Asia Society, National Museum, New Delhi, India

2018

Korea Research fellow, 10 global curators x 10 Korean curators: "Asian Visual Culture and Art" - The Korean Culture and Information Service, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea

Cultural and Creative Hubs Vietnam Project - The British Council, Hanoi, Vietnam

2017

CIMAM Annual Conference: "The roles and Responsibilities of Museums in Civil  Society", National Gallery, Singapore

2006

"Cultural Ecologies: Communicating Contemporary Art in the 21st Century" - Asia Art Archive, Drama Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Wanchai, Hong Kong 

Based on the true life of Sung A Lung, Lub qhov rooj (“the door” in Hmong language) recounts the struggle of Lung, born by mistake in a male body.

Reminding William Blake’s character Albion – the hero of the 4 Zoas, Lung falls into disunity and try to reconcile his 4 different parts to discover his true self.

Based on Sandrine Llouquet´s proposal, during the creative process of this piece, the 6 artists involved  have worked with a hypnotherapist, who accompanied them for a journey into their unconscious memory. The steps of this collective journey are related to the public through the allegory of the door.

... Until April 6, 2019 at Galerie Quynh (www.galeriequynh.com)

View of the exhibition (ground floor)

view of the exhibition (3d room)

Chapter 4: Days and Nights of Revolving Joy

(...) Borrowing a line from The Four Zoas, an unfinished book of mythic poems by
William Blake, the title reflects a continuous and elaborate journey of learning and discovery for the artist. The first part of the ongoing project was presented at the gallery in 2013 as Chapter 1: Where I attempt to drown the dragon. Chapitre 2: Midi was realized at L’Espace, Hanoi, Vietnam in 2015; and Chapitre 3: les 101 Grandes Déesses was shown at Le Point Commun, Annecy, France in 2017.
Chapter 4 unveils newly produced works incorporating ceramics, installation, and video that delve into ideas of identity and division, recurrent themes in Llouquet’s practice.

Llouquet’s practice is often invested in the reading and research of modern thinkers like Foucault, Nietzsche, Deleuze and Jung. In Carl Jung, Llouquet is particularly interested in his theory of archetypes. Jung’s explanation of archetypes looks at the unconscious stories and structures that are passed down through generations despite an individual’s particular circumstances of nature, nurture, and geography.

In The Four Zoas Blake intended to give his own vision of the psychic history of Man. His cosmic poetry offers an intriguing echo to Jung’s definition of the archetype despite Blake having died almost 50 years before Jung’s birth. Blake’s poetry is an outline of the unconscious forces struggling against one another in the human psyche.

This sense of fragmented, existential profundity is interwoven with Llouquet’s broken ceramics. Inspired by a recent trip to Lisbon where she encountered the painted, tin-glazed tile works known as azulejos, Llouquet travelled to Hue, the imperial capital of Vietnam, to learn more about pottery mosaic, a traditional technique using broken pottery that flourished in Hue in the 17th century.

For her new mosaics, Llouquet takes porcelain pieces, some found and others hand-painted, and shatters them into pieces before reconfiguring the shards into geometric forms. She accumulates images from disparate sources and recomposes them into new patterns and narratives. What is divided and fragmented can now be re-seen as a whole.

Chapter 4: Days and Nights of Revolving Joy unfolds as a progression from the ground floor and mezzanine which offer a mosaic of intriguing images of broken ceramics and fantastical, painted ceramic tiles towards more mysterious charcoal drawings on canvas on the second floor. The second floor back room features Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, a new video work of an esoteric ceremony. Viewers must enter a stark room with only bamboo mats on the floor to view the video, which is accessible only after scanning the QR code on their smartphones. Faithful to Llouquet’s idea of syncretism, the video is a celebration of various sources from the cult of Isis to Catholic mass to profane celebrations. The mysterious ceremony involves various rituals including dancing, a reading in Esperanto of Night the First (the first chapter of The Four Zoas), and an initiation rite. Rather than attempting to understand the content with our rational mind, the artist proposes to experience it and grasp it on another level of consciousness.

The Chymical Air, 25.3 x 35.5 cm, pencil and watercolor on paper, 2018 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkünden, 120.5 x 120.5 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, found ceramic, metal (frame), silicon and plaster, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Bald prangt, den Morgen zu verkünden, 120.5 x 120.5 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, found ceramic, metal (frame), silicon and plaster, 2019 (detail) - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Nokta Defilado, 20x180cm (20 x 20cm each), ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Nokta Defilado, 20x180cm (20 x 20cm each), ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, 2019 (detail) - courtesy Galerie Quynh

N3d, 20 x 20 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

N6th, 20 x 20 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

N9th, 20 x 20 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

The Song of the Aged Mother, 61.5 x 61.5 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, metal (frame), silicon and plaster, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, 61.5 x 61.5 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, metal (frame), silicon and plaster, 2019 - private collection

quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius, 61.5 x 61.5 cm, ceramic paint on ceramic tiles, metal (frame), silicon and plaster, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Le livre des tables, 35x35cm, pencil on calligraphy paper, 2018 -- courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 1, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 2, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 3, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 4, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 5, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 6, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Still Life 7, 70x70cm, Charcoal on canvas, 2019 - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, single channel video with sound. 35 min 13 sec, 2019 (still image from the video) - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, single channel video with sound. 35 min 13 sec, 2019 (still image from the video) - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Days and Nights of Revolving Joy, single channel video with sound. 35 min 13 sec, 2019 (still image from the video) - courtesy Galerie Quynh

Perinthia, performance, 20', 2018

Direction and scenography: Sandrine Llouquet

Dancer: Nguyen Minh Tam

Drummer: Zach Schreier

Performed at Krossing Over Festival (Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh city - L'Etoile du Nord, Paris - Metaxu, Toulon)

"Chapitre 3: Les 101 Grandes Déesses", by Sandrine Llouquet

Le Point Commun, Espace d'Art Contemporain, Annecy, France

(photos: Antony Leclerc)

---

Ancient spiritual practices, esoteric rituals, re-imagined mythological imageries and religious behaviours have been at the centre of Sandrine Llouquet’s artmaking.
For many years, the French artist has been fascinated by the powerful influences that religions and beliefs have played in many aspects of the human existence, and has been searching for common connections between them to try to understand their unshakable importance in the human psyche.
Influenced by psychological and philosophical texts, such as the works of Jung and Nietzsche, Llouquet has been building an array of realms inhabited by magical, often esoteric, creatures.
In her latest solo exhibition, Chapitre 3: Les 101 Grandes Deesses, on display at Le Point Commun, Annecy, from the 15th September, Llouquet turns her gaze towards what she regards being the source of all spiritual beliefs: the Goddess.
As the title suggests, the shows is a continuation of her previous projects (Chapter 1: Where I attempt to Drown the Dragon and Chapter 2: Midi), but, most importantly, it reflects the artist’s desire of having her art considered as a whole: an organic body that evolves and expands. In fact, included among the new exhibits for Chapter 3, there are pieces selected from her recent projects, such as a mix media bust from the Cabinet of Doctor Komo and the drawing Mithra Games Grand Opening from the show Carne Vale.
Llouquet’s interest in religion lies on the evolution of its rituals, iconography and manifestations rather than on a theological perspective. With this body of work, Llouquet investigates the reasons behind the marginalisation of the female figure in contemporary religious practices.  
The female archetype has been visible throughout prehistoric and ancient history (the famous Venus Figurines, for instance, are regarded as one of the oldest art on Earth), signifying the important role that female virtues had in various spiritual systems.
(…) From Palaeolithic art to Indo-Iranian religions, from contemporary tribes’ rituals to mythology, Chapitre 3: Les 101 Grandes Deesses displays a collection of images of goddesses, in the form of drawings, installations and sculptures.
However, the viewer should not expect a reproduction or a re-interpretation of such iconic figures, but rather an invitation from the artist to explore our own collective memory in interpreting the various female archetypes on display.
When talking with Llouquet about her artistic process, the words ‘alchemy’ and ‘syncretism’ are bound to come up early on in the conversation. Stemming from a personal curiosity in mythology and legends, the French artist collects images, pictures and texts, which then, like in alchemy, are transmute into esoteric worlds, where eeriness and ethereal magic live side by side.
Since moving to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 12 years ago, Caodaism (a southern Vietnamese monotheistic religion that incorporates teachings from Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity) has been another inspiration for Llouquet, who sees it as an example of Vietnamese cultural and its ability to freely absorb a variety of sources and merge them together without restrictions.
This same principle is applied in her work, where she creates her own universe of religious gestures, imageries, rituals and movements, and, through it, the viewers can ascertain her personal creative recollection and make it their own.

“The Cabinet of Dr Komo”, by Sandrine Llouquet
KENPOKU ART 2016
(Photos Keizo Kioku)

For KENPOKU ART 2016, French artist Sandrine Llouquet conceived of an imaginary study of a Dutch doctor, a friend of the owner of Hozumike House. She researched the Kenpoku region, and inquired into various cultural aspects of the Edo period, including yokai (monstruous ghosts), misemono-goya ("freak shows") and rangaku (Dutch learning). Based on this setting and research, Llouquet created a room that showcased objects collected by this Dutch doctor. This work was based on the "cabinet of curiosities", a popular practice among aristocrats and scholars in the West between the 15th and the 18th centuries. Llouquet is interested in how objects from real life are transformed by such ritualistic contexts, and has been studying common archetypal images that can be found in oral traditions and mythology around the world. This installation was a summation of this curiosity that has led the artist on journeys across time and space.

untitled - pencil, watercolor, ink on paper - 40.5x30cm - 2015 (private collection )

untitled - pencil, watercolor, ink on paper - 40.5x30cm - 2015 (courtesy Galerie Quynh)

The Wounded Healer 1 - pencil, watercolor, ink on paper - 40.5x30cm - 2015 (courtesy Galerie Quynh)

The Wounded Healer 2 - pencil, watercolor, ink on paper - 40.5x30cm - 2015 (courtesy Galerie Quynh)

untitled - pencil, watercolor, ink on paper - 76x56 cm - 2015 (courtesy Galerie Quynh)