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Lot Essay
"Never more than in the last two centuries of his history has man had more opportunities to understand that by tracing a line between himself and the other, the animal or nature, he would enter a sort of cursed cycle of his history where the same line would be soon used to separate man from other men, for the sake of an ideology that was already dying."
-Claude Lévi-Strauss
Known for her 2013 film Grosse Fatigue which won her the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale, Camille Henrot works across film, sculpture, painting and drawing to reconsider the typologies of objects and established systems of knowledge. Her drawings are inspired by varied source material from art and cultural history -- including Saul Steinberg, Japanese prints from the Edo period, and Grecian frescos -- alongside contemporary Manga and more disparate images from social media.
Henrot tackles power dynamics in her large-scale watercolour Big Fish Small Fish, 2016, in which a large fish has consumed all but the tail of a smaller fish. Its eyes are wide, as if suddenly realizing it has swallowed more than what will fit in its body. Henrot's technical finesse combines smooth lines and sweeping brushwork to outline and fill in the body of a fish. Light splatters of color on the back of the fish indicate the texture of the scales, differentiating it from the smooth and vulnerable underbelly. The large, gestural marks result in a playful scene with dark undertones.
Henrot's drawings often depict animals enacting scenes of psychological struggle and emotional complexity, exploring the inner workings of the human mind through interactions between both humans and animals. This particular theme is part of the Bad Dad series (2015-17) that questions the imbalances of power, both in mythology and modern life.
-Claude Lévi-Strauss
Known for her 2013 film Grosse Fatigue which won her the Silver Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale, Camille Henrot works across film, sculpture, painting and drawing to reconsider the typologies of objects and established systems of knowledge. Her drawings are inspired by varied source material from art and cultural history -- including Saul Steinberg, Japanese prints from the Edo period, and Grecian frescos -- alongside contemporary Manga and more disparate images from social media.
Henrot tackles power dynamics in her large-scale watercolour Big Fish Small Fish, 2016, in which a large fish has consumed all but the tail of a smaller fish. Its eyes are wide, as if suddenly realizing it has swallowed more than what will fit in its body. Henrot's technical finesse combines smooth lines and sweeping brushwork to outline and fill in the body of a fish. Light splatters of color on the back of the fish indicate the texture of the scales, differentiating it from the smooth and vulnerable underbelly. The large, gestural marks result in a playful scene with dark undertones.
Henrot's drawings often depict animals enacting scenes of psychological struggle and emotional complexity, exploring the inner workings of the human mind through interactions between both humans and animals. This particular theme is part of the Bad Dad series (2015-17) that questions the imbalances of power, both in mythology and modern life.