Les Lalanne: Au Grand Air
Past exhibition
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Kasmin is delighted to announce the first exhibition of work by French sculptors Les Lalanne to be presented in the Kasmin Sculpture Garden on the rooftop of Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea, New York. Opening during the first week of May, Les Lalanne: Au Grand Air is timed to mark the beginning of the spring season and is staged in anticipation of the inaugural New York Art Week. Comprising two large-scale bronze sculptures by Francois-Xavier Lalanne, Sanglier de Villepinte (2006) and Lapin à Vent (2007), and one major work by Claude Lalanne, Pomme d’Hiver (2008), the outdoor exhibition encourages audiences to consider their relationship with nature, art, and the way in which the two are connected.
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The works on view celebrate the artists' kinship with the natural world, demonstrating their surrealist philosophy and mirroring the verdant gardens of the studio and home where the couple lived and worked together for over three decades. From their earliest exhibition in 1964 entitled Zoophites—a reference to objects with a mixture of animal and plant characteristics—the artists repeatedly drew inspiration from flora and fauna, transforming natural references into inventive creations that meld the material elegance of art nouveau metalwork with phantasmagorical formal inventions more akin to the realm of myth.
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Les Lalannes' outdoor sculpture epitomizes the surrealist methodology of intervening in public space, creating juxtapositions that destabilize expectation. In conversation with the The High Line and the Hudson River and set against the backdrop of the biomorphic Zaha Hadid building, the works speak to the unexpected connections that define the life force of the city.
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Kasmin is dedicated to the presentation of large-scale sculpture and continues to support public art projects around the world. Previous offsite exhibitions of Les Lalanne in New York City organized by the gallery include the popular Sheep Station at The Getty Station, Chelsea (2013) and Les Lalanne on Park Avenue presented by the New York City Parks Public Art Program in cooperation with the Fund for Park Avenue Sculpture Committee (2009). Additional public displays of Les Lalanne's outdoor sculptures at at the Palace of Versailles, France; The Raleigh Gardens, Miami; and Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, Coral Gables, have offered the opportunity to view their work in far-off pastures.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Kasmin will release a fully-illustrated publication bringing together documentation of outdoor exhibitions by Les Lalanne in the United States and new scholarship on the work. -
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The presentation continues with additional works inside at Kasmin’s 28th Street location, such as François-Xavier’s seminal work Ane Bâté (grand) (1985).
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Works
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