Guillaume Dénervaud
Interview by Aleï journal
Guillaume Dénervaud is presented at Bel Ami LA at the occasion of Liste Art Fair Basel
from the 12th to the 18th of June 2023
How do you define your practice ?
I try to represent different ecosystems or atmospheres, in which vegetal and industrial elements are interacting with each other.
What are the main themes in your work ?
I think I’m interested in inter-zones, like when at the border of a city, nature starts to appear again, I’m very attentive to those sort of superpositions, landscapes, and natural elements. The fact that I grew up in the countryside, and that I’m now living in a big city also influenced the creation of these hybrid landscapes. For these paintings, I’ve been more specifically influenced by a parc called « Le Jardin du Ver Têtu » — in which a secret garden, full of flowers and vegetables, takes place under a complex of post-modernism buildings in the 19th district in Paris.
What is your process of work, do you have a recurrent creative schema, and do you create your art pieces following a path ?
I’m generally working in series trying to create stories from an image to an other. Like in a comic.
What are your influences and references ?
I’m reading lot of science-fiction, and more recently I have been doing research about natural pigments, mostly mineral, which has influenced the aesthetic and the materiality of the paintings.
Guillaume Dénervaud (b. 1987, Fribourg, Switzerland) lives and works in Paris. He studied at the École des arts appliqués, Geneva and at HEAD, Geneva. Dénervaud’s solo shows include Swiss Institute, New York (2023) (forthcoming); Synthetic Splinter, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2023); Surv’eye, Centre D’édition Contemporary (CEC), Geneva (2021); Zone Furtive, Balice Hertling, Paris (2019); Inversens Clinic, Alienze, Lausanne (2019); and Spectrolia Corporation, Hard Hat, Geneva (2018). Group exhibitions include Don’t Worry, This Will All Be Over Soon, Gregor Staiger, Milan (2023); La main-pleur, Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg (2022); Des corps, des écritures, Musée d’art Moderne de Paris (2022); Aquarium, Maison Populaire, Montreuil (2022); Les formes du transfert, Les Magasins Généraux, Paris (2021); Emblazoned World, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2021); Le sain ennui, BQ Gallery, Berlin (2021); Your Friends and Neighbors, High Art, Paris (2020); and L’Oranger, LiveInYourHead, Geneva (2017). Dénervaud participated in the Swiss Institute residency program, New York (2021). His work is in the collections of the ICA Miami; MAMCO, Geneva; and the Musée d’art Moderne de Paris.
THE BALANCE OF PRODUCTION AND POLLUTION, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — GREEN GOLD MINE, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — DOCTOR OZONE, 2023, China ink on watercolor paper, 57.5 x 78.5 cm (framed) — POLLINATION, 2023, Oil on linen, 78 3/4 x 51 5/8 in (200 x 130 cm) — EVEN ALL INTERCONNECTED COMMUNICATIONS ARE FRAGMENTING, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — SEVERAL HYPOTHESES ARE DISCUSSED, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — COPPER CITY, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm)
Guillaume Dénervaud
Interview by Aleï journal
Guillaume Dénervaud is presented at Bel Ami LA at the occasion of Liste Art Fair Basel
from the 12th to the 18th of June 2023
How do you define your practice ?
I try to represent different ecosystems or atmospheres, in which vegetal and industrial elements are interacting with each other.
What are the main themes in your work ?
I think I’m interested in inter-zones, like when at the border of a city, nature starts to appear again, I’m very attentive to those sort of superpositions, landscapes, and natural elements. The fact that I grew up in the countryside, and that I’m now living in a big city also influenced the creation of these hybrid landscapes. For these paintings, I’ve been more specifically influenced by a parc called « Le Jardin du Ver Têtu » — in which a secret garden, full of flowers and vegetables, takes place under a complex of post-modernism buildings in the 19th district in Paris.
What is your process of work, do you have a recurrent creative schema, and do you create your art pieces following a path ?
I’m generally working in series trying to create stories from an image to an other. Like in a comic.
What are your influences and references ?
I’m reading lot of science-fiction, and more recently I have been doing research about natural pigments, mostly mineral, which has influenced the aesthetic and the materiality of the paintings.
Guillaume Dénervaud (b. 1987, Fribourg, Switzerland) lives and works in Paris. He studied at the École des arts appliqués, Geneva and at HEAD, Geneva. Dénervaud’s solo shows include Swiss Institute, New York (2023) (forthcoming); Synthetic Splinter, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2023); Surv’eye, Centre D’édition Contemporary (CEC), Geneva (2021); Zone Furtive, Balice Hertling, Paris (2019); Inversens Clinic, Alienze, Lausanne (2019); and Spectrolia Corporation, Hard Hat, Geneva (2018). Group exhibitions include Don’t Worry, This Will All Be Over Soon, Gregor Staiger, Milan (2023); La main-pleur, Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg (2022); Des corps, des écritures, Musée d’art Moderne de Paris (2022); Aquarium, Maison Populaire, Montreuil (2022); Les formes du transfert, Les Magasins Généraux, Paris (2021); Emblazoned World, Bel Ami, Los Angeles (2021); Le sain ennui, BQ Gallery, Berlin (2021); Your Friends and Neighbors, High Art, Paris (2020); and L’Oranger, LiveInYourHead, Geneva (2017). Dénervaud participated in the Swiss Institute residency program, New York (2021). His work is in the collections of the ICA Miami; MAMCO, Geneva; and the Musée d’art Moderne de Paris.
THE BALANCE OF PRODUCTION AND POLLUTION, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — GREEN GOLD MINE, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — DOCTOR OZONE, 2023, China ink on watercolor paper, 57.5 x 78.5 cm (framed) — POLLINATION, 2023, Oil on linen, 78 3/4 x 51 5/8 in (200 x 130 cm) — EVEN ALL INTERCONNECTED COMMUNICATIONS ARE FRAGMENTING, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — SEVERAL HYPOTHESES ARE DISCUSSED, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm) — COPPER CITY, 2023, Oil and tempera on linen, 55 1/8 x 35 3/8 in (140 x 90 cm)
