Alliance Française de Singapour presents
Curated by Tan Siuli
9 March – 28 March 2021
Alliance Française de Singapour, la galerie, Level 2
Tuesday – Friday: 1pm – 7:30pm | Saturday: 9am – 5:30pm
Free Entrance
In her solo exhibition, Hélène Le Chatelier works across a breadth of artistic mediums to explore the idea and image of the female body as a ‘terra incognita’, an ambiguous terrain open for new, and personal readings.
Resisting the conventional male gaze of art history while simultaneously questioning ‘feminine’ attributes and histories, Le Chatelier’s close-up, yet abstracted forms offer up primordial, timeless landscapes.
A related body of work turns on the metaphor of the Motherland, where the idea of the female body is enmeshed with notions of identity and belonging. Drawing on her sense of dislocation as well as a distant yet ambiguous longing for this ‘motherland’, Le Chatelier laboriously erases parts of old maps of France, leaving only its rivers visible, like veins on flesh. These are maps of fading memories, and yet their regression to ‘virgin territory’ offers up a blank canvas for possibilities to be imagined anew.
Hélène Le Chatelier
Untold 1 Acrylic and embroidery on Giclee print photography on Arches Velin Museum Rag 315mg 31cm x 22cm_2021
TALKS
Artist Talk moderated by Siuli Tan
This panel brings together women artists from France and the Southeast Asian region to discuss the representation of the female figure and femininity. The conversation will delve into their individual work and practice, and situate this within the arc of broader art histories as well as each artist’s negotiation of social and cultural norms. The panel will be followed by a Q & A session.
17 March 2021 – 8pm
Meet-the-Authors Session moderated by Sébastien Bonnemason
In English: Our panel discussion will further examine the theme of “gentleness in the act of creation”. As an artist whose works resist the conventional male gaze of art history while simultaneously questioning “feminine” attributes and histories, Hélène Le Chatelier will talk about her unique approach towards art and her positioning as a female artist. Writers Lilyane Beauquel and Joffrine Donnadieu will chime in with a discussion on the distinction between “femininity” and “feminism”, and more generally on how we are conditioned by a shared history that is often difficult to escape.
In French with English subtitles
Panels will be held in Alliance Française’ theatre with an allowance of 50 people and streamed live. Access is free but registration on AF website is mandatory.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Hélène Le Chatelier studied Art in Paris at l’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et des Métiers d’Art, Olivier de Serres, where she specialized and graduated in Fresco painting. Since her first painting exhibition in Paris in 1997 soon after her graduation, Hélène embraced various artistic modes of expression (painting, sculpture, photography, installation, video, writing). Hélène has spent a great deal of time in France and Ireland. She has been living and working in Singapore since 2010. Her work had been showcased in Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris, Seattle and New York.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Tan Siuli has over a decade of curatorial experience with a focus on contemporary art from Southeast Asia. Her exhibition projects include two editions of the Singapore Biennale (2013 and 2016), inter-institutional traveling exhibitions, as well as mentoring and commissioning platforms such as the President’s Young Talents exhibition series. She has also lectured on Museum-based learning and Southeast Asian art history at institutes of higher learning such as the National Institute of Education as well as LaSalle College of the Arts. Her recent speaking engagements include presentations on Southeast Asian contemporary art at Frieze Academy London and Bloomberg’s Brilliant Ideas series.
PRESS MEETING
On International Women’s Day, meet artist Hélène Le Chatelier and curator Tan Siuli to ask them all your questions about the exhibition.
Monday 08 March 2021 – 3pm
Contact us to book your slot (communication@alliancefrancaise.org.sg)
ABOUT THE CO-ORGANISERS
Alliance Française de Singapour was founded in 1949. It is a non-profit educational and cultural organization, affiliated to the Alliance Française network which is the world’s largest network of any cultural association with more than 800 locations in 135 countries ln the buzzing evolving Singaporean cultural landscape, Alliance Française contributes to the regional influence of the cultural scene of the city-State by programming around 100 events/year in three key venues: theatre, gallery and media library. Alliance Française’ cultural and educational programming is extremely rich but coherent in achieving its goal: to create a desire of France (and French) to an everlasting greater community of people whose strength is built from cross-cultural understanding which is at the heart of all dialogue. www.alliancefrancaise.org.sg
Founded in Singapore in 2012, at the crossroads between East and West, Intersections’ mission is to bridge diverse cultures through the arts. The gallery represents both established and emerging artists, mostly based in Southeast Asia. Over the year, the gallery established a solid reputation in presenting unique and rare contemporary art, both at the gallery and on international fairs. Using art as a universal language, Intersections presents artworks which tell a story and connects artists involved in different art forms and different disciplines. The gallery started with a pop-up concept aiming to encourage people to discover art in unusual and unexpected places. The pop-up events strived to connect the artists’ intentions, the artworks’ meanings and the chosen venues’ characteristics. In 2015 Intersections found a port of call at 34 Kandahar Street, in a vibrant neighborhood in Singapore. Since 2020, due to the pandemic, the gallery operates mainly online or through pop-up events. www.intersections.com.sg
