Regarder est un pouvoir | Looking is Power

Galerie Gilla Loercher | Contemporary Art is very pleased to present the fourth solo exhibition of artist Capucine Vandebrouck.
Opening: Fri 10 November from 19:00 - 21:00.
Regarder est un pouvoir / Looking is Power is an exhibition project based on a three-month research stipend in the spring of 2022 to the federal Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada. During this trip, French artist Capucine Vandebrouck witnessed the seasons and landscapes change, shifting from white to green and changing drastically. She observed the melting of the ice, the appearance of the first spring crocuses, but also the devastating effects of global warming on the environment, such as forest fires and drunken forests. The various works on display in the exhibition are objects that bear witness to the decay and impermanence of the landscapes of northern Canada. They bear witness so as not to succumb to blindness. They force our gaze to focus on what we normally block out. The gaze will change the perception of what is alive. Each work by Capucine Vandebrouck is an attempt to relearn how to see, because looking is powerful.

Catalog | The works in the exhibition are accompanied by the launch of the art book "Un regard sur l'impermanence", published in 100 copies especially for the exhibition. This book is something halfway between the art book and the exhibition catalogue. It guides the artwork presented at the gallery. All poems are written by the artist. They are speaking to her artwork, like a prolongation of the pieces, completing and shining a light on different angles. This book is the keystone to a more intimate understanding of the artist’s approach. An original ephemeral piece is added to this book, an anthotype (photographic noble printing process based on the color change of plant dyes under the influence of light) made from wild blackberries. Its image will progressively vanish under the devastating effects of the passing of time.

Acknowledgements | Thanks are due to the Grand Est Region and the Drac Alsace (France) for their support in this project and to the graphic designers Ramel-Luzoir for their generous work on the catalog.

Capucine Vandebrouck is a photographer and a sculptor. She lives and works in Strasbourg (France). Her artwork focuses on questioning the living, the ephemeral, and the surrounding transience. She creates «make be» or «make exist» scenarios while manipulating materials. These living or surviving materials are often performative at their core. This means that, with
time’s collaboration, their forms, aspects, and colours change...Thus, water, fire, and flora are evolving materials nourishing her inspiration. She seeks to be surprised because wonderment is the root that allows us to move beyond the truths that we hold absolute.
Capucine Vandebrouck's work has been shown in numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. She has taken part in numerous artist residencies and received several awards and research grants. The most recent (2022) were the individual creation grant from the DRAC Alsace (France) and the creation grant from the Région Grand Est, (France), which enabled her to obtain a research grant to undertake a 3-month trip to the Yukon Territory, (Canada). Her work has been acquired by MAMCS, FRAC Alsace and several private collections in France and abroad. Capucine Vandebrouck's work has been represented by Berlin gallery Gilla Lörcher since 2017.