In Search Of The Lost Self / SOLO SHOW
Works from the Real Estate series
“References to contemporary works of art play the role of blurred psychological influences, forms of admiration and pure, implacable, simultaneous resistance.”
The exhibition title, In Search Of The Lost Self speaks to a tension at the heart of my work and life. What remains central in my work is not a fixed iconography but a sensibility shaped by the raw texture of adolescence, the intensity of which remains in human psychology, and the aesthetics of affect throughout life.
Contemporary art is a structuring influence too : not only in a directly referential way, but also as a conceptual and emotional device. Self, in this formulation, becomes both symbol and tool — a language of the extreme, a container for influences, desired or undesired. Not a representation of the “self”, but an inner quest to reveal the person we really are, once the mask has come off.
Painting, in this perspective, becomes an equally charged activity : a form of self-inscription performed on the edge of simulacra. References to contemporary works of art play the role of blurred psychological influences, forms of admiration and pure, implacable, simultaneous resistance. My admiration is not diminished by proximity — if anything, it deepens, becoming less about fantasy and more about shared history, presence and feelings.
Landscapes, interiors and environments act as metaphors for the inner self. Behind the first reading, we understand that there are other layers, suggesting a deeper and deeper space and an enigmatic experience.
Centre d’Art La Menuiserie
10B route de Meinier
1253 Vandoeuvres
website
map
Dates
Sept 4 - 21, 2025
Opening night
Sept 4 from 5 to 8 pm
Opening days
Thursday to Sunday : 3 to 7 pm
Or by appointment with Stéphane Ducret : +41 76 385 6888
Guided tours in presence of the artist
Sept 7 & Sept 14 from 6 to 8 pm
Discover the artist at work during Geneva Art Week
Sept 20 from 3 to 7 pm
Closing night during Geneva Art Week
Sept 21 from 5 to 8 pm
Painting Classes by ART CLASSE by Stéphane during the exhibition
www.artclasse.com
In Search Of The Lost Self, Centre d’Art La Menuiserie, exhibition views
“My practice is grounded in a persistent negotiation with presence, absence, and the conditions of perception.”
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Memories of admired works by other artists come to mind and, as they sparkle, inspire me to develop around and with them. Here, form precedes interpretation : the desire to paint them, to place them in unexpected contexts, to divert their original meaning or to play with them, comes to mind. I instinctively create a playful environment that poetically exudes strangeness. What we think we see is not what is.
This paradox — seeing both too much and too little — resonates in the paintings. In Search Of The Lost Self's compositions connect us to both the known and the unknown. In doing so, we feel a certain proximity, but strangeness takes hold of our minds.
My practice is grounded in a persistent negotiation with presence, absence, and the conditions of perception.
Here, I decided to revisit my Real Estate series, in which, from 2017 to 2022, I integrated (or appropriated) works of art by renowned contemporary artists into interiors (chalets, etc.). However, in this development, I am working solely from existing works and eliminating the “decorum” of references to collectors' interiors.
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This technique, which consists of reorganizing fragments of text and images, helped Bowie break free from the conventions of songwriting and create his characteristic fragmented and avant-garde style.
In my case, I use the “database” of works accumulated in my memory and my brain as a “magician's hat” from which I draw the sources for my paintings, which I then mix together.
This is not an intellectual exercise, but a pragmatic technique, a kind of tarot, which also introduces chance and accident into my painting process.
If there's a story here, it's about the absurdity and beauty of everyday life, the who and what and all the contradictions that shape our very selves.
Stéphane Ducret
Geneva, July - August 2025
In Search Of The Lost Self, Centre d’Art La Menuiserie, views of a selection fo artworks