While Yann Lestrat creates works that can exist entirely on their own, independently of one another, he nevertheless approached the art center’s galleries as a single space for perception. Thus, all of the works presented for the exhibition formed a vast installation, consisting of a series of four diptychs and colored threads stretched from floor to ceiling and bathed in intense light (Painting No. 29 and Painting No. 30). Like abstract landscapes, the diptychs are composed of vertical bands that appear to be in relief and in motion thanks to the lenticular image technique.
To create his paintings, Yann Lestrat humorously reappropriates and subverts this technique, which is typically used to produce business cards or the images found in cereal boxes. It is an optical device that combines a series of lenses to produce a three-dimensional image that appears different depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Computer-generated images are encoded to be interlaced into a single image, which is printed at the highest possible resolution. The print is then placed behind the lenticular array, perfectly aligned with the direction of the lenses.
This process demonstrates just how committed the artist is to the technical and aesthetic perfection of these works, drawing on cutting-edge science and technology to achieve this.
The threads, for their part, form a painting in space by juxtaposing or overlapping in countless combinations with the diptychs and the walls—one of which is left blank—creating a backdrop for the abstract compositions that take shape within the viewer’s field of vision as they wander through the space. The contemplative atmosphere that this installation evokes, and the way its elements resonate with one another to create a new dynamic, are not far removed from Eastern philosophy as expressed, for example, in the art of Japanese gardens.
The use of formal abstraction in these works in no way implies a departure from concerns with reality. Yann Lestrat challenges our perception of our environment by disrupting it through the interplay of elements, the movement of images, and intense light. In this way, the artist seeks to reveal the turmoil caused by our predefined systems of perception and by the normative structures of our society. The sensory experience evoked by these works also ties into Yann Lestrat’s exploration of the concept of psychological balance—whether individual or collective—as reflected throughout his body of work.
Production : La Criée centre d'art contemporain, Rennes