Levalet: Ellipses

Narrative ellipsis (the omission of a temporal sequence from a dramatic action) is a process that Levalet uses very frequently in his work. Coming from video and theatre, Levalet has often been concerned with retranscribing scenes in movement, using a combination of signs to represent a fixed image that will allow the spectator to reconstitute the complete narrative thread of a scene. As the scene takes place over a more or less long period of time, the movement is sometimes broken down in the manner of a flip book, which has contributed to its fame in the public space. The ellipsis also makes it possible, through an interesting effect of narrative shortcut, to give certain keys to the spectator who must then mentally re-establish what the artist has voluntarily omitted. It is this contextual play, and this often humorous shift, that has made the French urban artist so popular.
With a beautiful visual balance between solids and voids, the Ellipses exhibition also marks a new aesthetic research by Levalet. Wood is a living material that has taken up more and more space in his work over the years. Levalet uses different technical processes that allow him to play with the material, giving a new light to his works: he engraves the wood, he burns it, he cuts it, he assembles it.

A catalogue is published by the gallery for the exhibition.