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Land scape
CONTEMPORARY ART REVIEW
Francine Gourguechon between Tradition and Contemporariness? Or there ' s an interstitial area where these apparently opposite elements could produce a proficient synergy?
There is a contrast between traditional and contemporary but the trick is so meld them together into an art piece that touches those 2 styles and makes the piece a new inclusive vision. The interesting thing is that I’ m not aware of doing this melding … it must be subconscious.
Your work inquires into the interstitial space between personal and public spheres, providing the spectatorship with an immersive experience that forces such a contamination the inner and the outside: how do you see the relationship between public sphere and the role of art in public space?
Public art is crucial and thankfully is has been given the respect and funding that it deserves. Art is for everyone, everyday wither you see it in a great archectural setting or riding the train to work in the urban centers. I have done some public art projects of a decorative nature one being a large sculpted frog encrusted with glass mosaic for the University of Chicago Comer Children’ s Hospital. The children in the intensive care unit named her Fiona. It was a very satisfying project.
Over these years you have exhibited yor work several occasions around the Chicagoland area and Sonoma County, California. One of the hallmarks of your work is the capability to create direct involvement with the viewers, who are urged to evolve from a condition of mere spectatorship. So before leaving this conversation we would like to pose a question about the nature of the relationship of your art with your audience. Do you consider the issue of audience reception as being a crucial component of your decision-making process, in terms of what type of language is used in a particular context?
Because my work is very intuitive and progresses in an organic way, I don’ t spend time wondering if the viewer will accept it. At some point you have to release your mind of those considerations and make art from
An interview by Katherine Williams, curator and Josh Ryder, curator landescape @ europe. com
Photos by Nic Gourguechon Photography