In the mid-nineties, Vincent Fecteau (*1969, lives in San Francisco) made sculptures, displayed on tables, which at first sight appeared as strange, cryptic, architectural forms. These 'models' were never intended to represent anything other than themselves. They were rather to be understood as three-dimensional visualizations or diagrams of spatial ideas, and as objects 'in their own right': 'I am not so interested in thinking of these pieces as maquettes. They are of course small and model-like but in the end they are what they are. They are stand-ins for things, just not for larger versions of themselves.' *
Fecteau's first solo exhibition at Galerie Daniel Buchholz presents eight new pieces significantly larger than his previous works, that seem to have abandoned the idea of the 'model/non-model'. Gone are the collage materials, found objects and foamcore: the new sculptures are constructed exclusively of papier-mache and paint, materials which reinforce their presence as sculpture in their own right.
Fecteau hones the forms intuitively–several at a time–with little in the way of pre-conceived ideas or sketches. He proceeds by repeated additions and subtractions of both materials and ideas, applying multiple layers of paint but in some places leaving the raw newsprint of the papier-mache visible. Fecteau creates, alters, and often destroys these forms in an attempt to uncover some ultimate logic of volume, texture and colour.
*extract from an unpublished interview between Vincent Fecteau and Richard Hawkins.
Press release courtesy Galerie Buchholz.
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