Chrystel Lebas
TrAIN Associate Project Partner
Chrystel Lebas, Presence - Untitled n.30 - Risnjak - Kupa, 2010
Chrystel Lebas was awarded TrAIN Associate Project (TAP) seed funding in 2011. This funding will contribute to the production of an exhibition and symposium at the MMSU (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art) in Rijeka, Croatia (June-September 2011) to coincide with Rijeka Photo Festival 2011.
How do we humans and city dwellers engage with Nature and the Wilderness in a contemporary world?
How do we shape the environment to fit our needs, hence affecting in some degrees the fauna, flora and space we inhabit?
The exhibition is the outcome of a dialogue between SofijaSilvia, an artist based in Croatia, and Chrystel Lebas. This dialogue began with an interest in common subject and inquiry: both have developed a visual research relating to two of Croatia’s National Parks. SofijaSilvia has concentrated her research within Brijuni National Park, while Chrystel Lebas focused on Risnjak National park (since 2007). Chrystel’s photographic/film-based research is linked to similar issues observed across Europe, and draws a parallel with the findings in these countries to address a wider understanding of complex encounter between man and the environment, and between man and nature.
The exhibition is curated by Liz Wells (Writer, Curator and Convenor, Land/Water and the Visual Arts at Plymouth University). A symposium organised to coincide with the exhibition has the following guest speakers: Sandra Krizic Roban (Curator, Writer, Art Historian at Institute of Art History Zagreb); Liz Wells; Chrystel Lebas & SofijaSilvia; Djuro Huber (Professor Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb); Sandro Dujmović (Expert-protection activities of Brijuni National Park).
Born in France, Chrystel Lebas has lived and worked in London since 1994. She graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1997 and has exhibited in the UK and internationally.
Stemming from her interest in looking at how landscapes contain psychological significance in relation to visually concealed histories, legends, and our childhood memories, she employs photography and the moving image, often pushing the apparatuses to the limits of their functionality to produce images. Her work depicts landscapes that are empty of humans or animals, suggesting the influence of their presence and their reliance.
The works are mainly produced during the twilight hours, or as in the French expression, “Entre chien et loup”, translated in English as “Between Dog and Wolf”: the moment when twilight embodies the transition from dog to wolf, when it is nearly impossible to distinguish between the howling sounds coming from the two animals.
The exhibition ‘Chrystel Lebas & SofijaSilvia: Conversations on Nature’ will be held at the MMSU) (Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Rijeka, Croatia from the 17 June-31 July 2011.
