CLAUDIA COMTE

Having employed the practice of sculpting with wood, and marble since the earliest moments of her career, Comte hasdistinguished herself as an artist with an uncanny ability to transform dense material into delicate and awe-inspiringforms. From large-scale outdoor installations to small sculptures that sit atop slender pedestals, she incisively andinstinctually carves and melds the solid matter she chooses. Here, the artist presents her first foray into the ancientpractice of relief sculptures, which hang on the walls of the gallery. Protruding from the smooth Carrara marble areComte’s amorphous, organic forms that resemble plants, cacti, leaves, or corals. In the artist’s signature style, recurringshapes branch out widely or stand tall and alert. Inspired by a text from an English newspaper about the ongoingclimate crisis, the words “EVEN CACTI CAN’T BE SAVED FROM CLIMATE CHANGE” adorn the outer frame of eachwork. These works appear as memorial plaques for the elements depicted, highlighting the severe danger to speciesand the natural world we so often take for granted. These works can be linked to ancient Egyptian, Assyrian art,depictions of leaders, and representation of fertility (Venus von Laurel) 25’000 BC.

In her new wall work, Marine Wildfire & Underwater Forests, Comte continues upon her recent exploration ofpaintings on walls that extend beyond single rooms. Traveling from the main level up to the second floor, theinstallation demonstrates the artist’s continually evolving approach to creating immersive environments to showcaseher art. Bold, thick, curvy lines slither up the walls, change in density and gradient from bottom to top. Appearing torelate to the air and sky, or the frequency between air and water, Comte suggests a visible compositional form for theinvisible light and air waves that envelop our existence as humans and living creatures. The rhythmic, repetitivepresence of this dynamic motif enlivens the space, bringing forth a visceral energy to the ecosystem Comte presents.To the choice of marble: The material itself is so old, when it has been created from nature, it is ‘ancientness’ thatmakes it immortal, to shape a form in this material transfers it into a state of immortality as opposed to using anephemeral material that is more easily degrading.

Claudia Comte was born in 1983 in Morges, Switzerland and is currently working and living in Basel, Switzerland.Recent solo and group exhibitions include Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2023); LagoAlgo, Mexico City (2023);Casa Wabi, Puerto Escondido (2023); Desert X, AlUla (2022), Museum Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2022), 58thOctober Salon - Belgrade Biennale (2022), Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (2021), Kunstraum Dornbirn(2020); Castello di Rivoli (2019), Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen (2019); MOCA Cleveland (2018);Kunsthalle Basel (2018); KölnSkulptur #9, Cologne (2017); Basement Roma (2017); Messeplatz, Art Basel (2017);Kunstmuseum Luzern (2017); Desert X, Palm Springs (2017); Public Art Fund, New York (2016); Haus Konstruktiv,Zurich (2014).