Galerie Berthet-Aittouarès

Marie-Hélène Lafon presents Daniel Pontoreau: when a novelist engages with a sculptor.

“Daniel Pontoreau grasps the material of the earth as I grasp the materiality of language: with full body force. The aim is to give shape to the chaos of the world. Without emphasis. It is an eathly, raw experience.”

Marie-Hélène Lafon tells stories marked by her symbiosis with the earth and her connection to a primal land that she leaves to reinvent her life elsewhere.

The earth, both a subject of reflection and of creation, brings together the writer and the sculptor-ceramist in this exhibition.

The writer and this sculptor engage in this dialogue, recognizing their shared sensitivity. 

Marie-Hélène Lafon’s uncompromising alterings of language itself gives substance to her textured writing style.

Pontoreau, on the other hand, creates shapes with the earth on the ground. He kneads it and carves it in order to inscribe the passages of time.

Both artists apply an artistic style that is not too overbearing or emphasised, they talk to the viewers by touching their senses.

Marie-Hélène Lafon presents Daniel Pontoreau: when a novelist dialogues with a sculptor.

“Daniel Pontoreau grasps the earth material as I grasp the language material. With full force. It is about giving shape to the chaos of the world. Without emphasis. It would be earthy and very bare.”

Marie-Helène Lafon recounts destinies marked by attachment to the land and the connection to a primal country that one leaves to invent one’s life elsewhere.
The earth: a subject of reflection and creation brings together the writer and the sculptor-ceramist.
If this writer and this sculptor enter into dialogue, it is also because they recognize themselves in a common sensitivity.

The uncompromising work on language by Marie-Hélène Lafon gives body to a relief writing.
Pontoreau, on the other hand, molds the earth on the ground, the earth on the Earth. He kneads it, engraves it, scars it, in order to inscribe the marks of a passage.

Finally, both practice a style without sophistication, without emphasis, which directly touches the senses. It is the artistic expression they choose to question the silence of a “before the landscape.”