In Search Of The Lost Self / SOLO SHOW

The exhibition title, In Search Of The Lost Self speaks to a tension at the heart of Ducret's work and life. What remains central in Ducret's 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. The artist’s 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.

For Ducret, painting begins with an impulse - something felt or intuitive before it becomes visible. Memories of admired works by other artists come to mind and, as they sparkle, inspire him 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. Ducret instinctively creates 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.

Ducret’s practice is grounded in a persistent negotiation with presence, absence, and the conditions of perception. While some of his paintings are resolutely figurative, others echo them with absolute abstraction, visibility and dissolution.

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.

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Centre d’Art La Menuiserie
12 route de Meinier
1253 Vandoeuvres

Dates
Sept 4 - 21, 2025

Opening night
Sept 4 from 5 to 9 pm

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 6 pm

Closing night
Sept 21 from 5 to 8 pm

Visit hours to be announced and by appointment with Stéphane Ducret : +41 76 385 6888