Threading Orbs: Recent Tapestries and Works on Paper by Thierry W Despont @ Marlborough Gallery

22 septembre 2010

Threading Orbs: Recent Tapestries and Works on Paper by Thierry W Despont @ Marlborough Gallery

Thierry Despont, NB 03-T (detail), 2010. Jacquard tapestry, h: 81 x w: 149 in / h: 205.7 x w: 378.5 cm. photo courtesy Marlborough Gallery

The Directors of Marlborough Gallery are pleased to announce that an exhibition of tapestries and works on paper by renowned artist, architect and designer Thierry W Despont will be held at Marlborough Gallery from September 23 through October 23, 2008. This show will feature eight monumental tapestries and is the public debut of Despont’s work in this ancient medium.

Despont is well-recognized for his paintings on wood panel or on copper mounted on wood panel that depict nebulas, celestial bodies and planets. These works are executed in mixed media with such materials as enamel, asphaltum, acrylic, ink, glue, epoxy resin, paper, alumichrom, and oil stick. By using contemporary Jacquard looms, Despont translated these richly detailed, highly expressive paintings into woven tapestries that seem to glow with light.

Thierry Despont, NB 06-T, 2010. Jacquard tapestry, h: 81 x w: 149 in / h: 205.7 x w: 378.5 cm. photo courtesy Marlborough Gallery

Despont comments on this new body of work: “... I like to think of my orbs as floating in space, and tapestry, with its three-dimensional aspects, is a fantastic medium for them…. I am fascinated by our universe filled with billions of galaxies, of stars and planets, by the idea of being drawn into space and floating away. The tapestries display this poetic notion of floating with these orbs, as the light bounces off softly. … People are drawn to them. In the studio, every visitor wants to touch them. It is an emotional force; they exert their own kind of gravity.”

Despont continues, “In tapestry, a thread is a thin yarn used for weaving. In computer science, a thread is the smallest unit of processing. In this show, I weave a thread from drawing to computer driven loom to create large tapestries of orbs floating in space.”

Thierry Despont, NB 10-T (detail), 2010. Jacquard tapestry, h: 81 x w: 149 in / h: 205.7 x w: 378.5 cm. photo courtesy Marlborough Gallery

In addition to his familiarity with tapestries as a child in France, Despont became engaged with the medium of tapestry – its beauty, artistic qualities and installation - through his restoration of Clayton, the Frick family mansion in Pittsburgh, and his design for the Decorative Arts Galleries of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where numerous tapestries of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries are on view. He joins a number of contemporary artists who have used the new, technologically advanced Jacquard looms to create lasting work of power and intricate visual poetry.

Tapestry 01, 2010 (82 x 157 ¼ in./208.3 x 399.4 cm) and Tapestry 04, 2010 (82 x 157 ¼ in./208.3 x 399.4 cm) are both luminous works that depict glowing orbs with a range of silver, white and brown tones against deep black backgrounds. These works are woven from Italian cotton with cotton viscose and metallic threads that shimmer. Tapestry 03, Tapestry 05 and Tapestry 07 (all 2010, 82 x 157 ¼ in./208.3 x 399.4 cm) are woven from Italian cotton and cotton viscose with black cotton, giving their rust and maroon palettes an extraordinary depth. In addition to the tapestries, Despont’s exhibition will include seven monumental monotypes that range from 5 ½ feet to 6 ½ feet in height.

Thierry Despont, NB 12-T. Jacquard tapestry, h: 81 x w: 149 in / h: 205.7 x w: 378.5 cm. photo courtesy Marlborough Gallery

Despont is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, and holds a Master’s Degree of Urban Design and City Planning from Harvard University. Among many spectacular public projects, Despont includes the Centennial restoration of the Statue of Liberty, New York, the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue, New York, and Claridge’s and Dorchester Hotels in London. Despont is a recipient of the prestigious honors of the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres.

His artwork has been seen in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including recent shows at Marlborough Chelsea in 2008 and Marlborough Fine Art London in 2007. Future projects include an exhibition of sculpture at Rahmi M. Koç Museum, Istanbul, in December 2010 and a solo exhibition in Venice at the same time as the Venice Biennale in 2011.

An illustrated catalogue featuring an interview with the artist will be available at the time of the exhibition.

Sep 23 - Oct 23, 2010. Marlborough Gallery. 40 West 57th Street. New York, New York 10019 USA www.marlboroughgallery.com