Sylvie Auvray: Marguerites: "Marguerites"

SOKYO ATSUMI(Tokyo) is pleased to present "Marguerites," a solo exhibition by Paris-based artist Sylvie Auvray. The exhibition will feature her latest ceramic works created during her artist-in-residence program at The Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park (Shiga Prefecture) starting this fall, as well as three large-scale paintings created in Paris.

Auvray began her career in painting and has since expanded her range of expression to sculpture and ceramics. She has exhibited at authoritative museums and galleries in the world, including the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Paris), Gagosian Gallery (Geneva), and Daichi Project (Los Angeles), where her work has been highly acclaimed. She has also participated in the Chinati Foundation Artist-in-Residence program established by Donald Judd (Marfa, Texas), where she exhibited with John Chamberlain - one of America's leading sculptors, and is constantly challenging herself to try new approaches.

In her first solo exhibition in Japan, "Beast and Broom", held at Sokyo Gallery (Kyoto) in 2021, the artist presented mainly works based on the motif of brooms, which she explored for a couple of years. "Beast and Broom'' was an exhibition full of Auvray's intellectual humor, combining ceramics with materials such as brooms in daily use and wood that Auvray finds beautiful in her everyday life. She referenced characters from picture storybooks including Pinocchio and motifs from commedia dell'arte.

The title of the exhibition, "Marguerites," refers to the antique marguerite flower-shaped plates that Auvray brought from Paris and used during her stay in Shigaraki. Among the works fired in the climbing kiln at The Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park we can see a platter in the shape of marguerite, as well as objects developed from the motif. The main works in this exhibition are ceramics based on the motif of "Beast." More humorous than frightening. The Beast is more like an imaginary friend.

In a recent interview the artist said:

"My ceramic beasts are inspired by the stuffed animals I used to carry around with me all through my childhood, never letting them go out of my hands."
Auvray has shown other works named "The Beast" before. For the first time, she presents a life-size object that stands 180cm tall.

In addition to the Beast series, other new works such as small pieces and vases will be exhibited. Auvray's figurative expression, in which roughness and exquisiteness coexist, takes strange forms, yet they remain somehow lovable and mysterious. Auvray can be considered one of the artists working in the field of abstract ceramics, including for having participated in curated exhibitions with pioneering abstract