CHRISTOPHE LEROUX | NEW WORKS
September 6 - October 15, 2014
Contrasting grace with power and fragility with strength, Christophe Leroux’s practice impulsively joins beauty with originality.
Leroux’s harmonious compositions belie their use of modern materials and choice of mediums: metal wall sculptures and paintings on paper. His aesthetic is characterized by ordered layering where colors occupy prominent boundaries, occasionally blending through progressive mechanized copper, zinc and aluminum printing. Often made from materials that are manipulated to reflect color and light, scholarly texts cite his works as imparting the belief that an artist is a reflection of society. Leroux’s use of handmade stencils symbolize his inclination to follow in the path of urbanity. The incorporation of language into his work, geometrical considerations, is not only a comment on industrialization and urbanization but globalization as well.
"What I do is very industrial and where we live is urbanization so I really think it’s interesting to mix the French and English- French here in the States and English in France because it really reflects globalization. Like people speak English now in Paris, whereas ten years ago no one spoke English."
-Christophe Leroux said to A. Moret during an interview.
Integrating both sculpture and painting into his work, Christophe Leroux navigates seemingly contradictory visual terrains. Fabricating crumpled and bent sheets of aluminum, which serve as a surface for his mixed-media sculptures on metal, Leroux implies the mechanical and urban. His imagery consists of an unlikely combination of undulating, expressionistic lines, sumptuously rippling metal, stenciled text, numerals, and graphics that evoke references to industry. By juxtaposing a painterly style with rote insignias, Leroux creates an unexpected dialogue between divergent aesthetic approaches.
Leroux is an internationally recognized artist who has been invited to participate in exhibitions at museums such as MOCA Los Angeles and Musée Galliera, Paris, France, and was selected on several occasions to show at Salon des Realites Nouvelles, Paris, France. His solo shows have been featured at galleries in Los Angeles and Europe. Leroux’s work has been showcased in fairs such as Miami Art Basel-SCOPE, and is in collections worldwide including the Colección Jumex in Mexico City, Jean-Manuel Voltz in Gray, Nancy Jane Goldston in Los Angeles, Joseph Smallhoover in Paris, Paul Bourquin in Besancon and Eugenio Lopez in Beverly Hills. Leroux shares his time between Los Angeles, CA and Paris, France.