Back to Exhibitions

April 28 - May 26, 2007 Opening Reception Saturday, April 28th 2 -5 pm Click here to view media release (pdf file)

In her single channel video projection Vidéo 1 (blanc) (Video 1 white), French artist Axelle Rioult explores the margins between interior and exterior, juxtaposing alterity and metamorphosis. Feathers float in hypnotic, trance-like motion before a monochromatic backdrop, to reveal the shape of a body undulating beneath a white cover. Is this body human or animal, male or female? Does its motion suggest entrapment or desire? The body - under cover - never emerges, and the unyielding flow of feathers interrupts any closer inspection. The work's impact lies in the fragile tension between the viewer's attraction to the visually sensuous imagery and the uncertainty of expectation created by the viewer's inability to connect with the figure's condition. Cheryl Rondeau Axelle Rioult lives and works in Hérouville Saint Claire, France. She received her formal art education at the École des Beaux-Arts du Havre. Her installation work has been exhibited in France and the United States, and her videos have been screened at festivals and events in France, Canada and Argentina. Since 2001 she has been working with video, photography and writing as a means to question notions of language, perception, alterity and mutation. Axelle Rioult website