Exposition 1812-2012 par Lucien Murat

<p>  </p> <p> ♘<strong>1812-2012</strong> is an exhibition made by the french artist Lucien Murat, in partnership with museum of the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica.</p> <p> Displaying an installation in the entire space of the great balrom, he revisits<strong> the Russian Retreat from September the 14th to October the 10th 2012 in</strong> colaboration with the curator Madeleine Filippi.</p> <p> ♘Passionate about History, and especially about his family history, this decendant of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_Murat" target="_blank">Joachim Murat</a>, likes to reinterpret historic facts in an absurd and grotesque way.</p> <p> ♘ Through an intsallation made out of<strong> wooden and resin soldiers</strong> with grotesque features, this young artist offers a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivalesque" target="_blank">canivalesque</a> vision of the Russian Retreat.</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lanuvrqqn11qbxiygo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&amp;Expires=1340445420&amp;Signature=AvBQD3PhpMmpCu2TGpeaYxDUVJY%3D" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lanuvrqqn11qbxiygo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAI6WLSGT7Y3ET7ADQ&amp;Expires=1340445420&amp;Signature=AvBQD3PhpMmpCu2TGpeaYxDUVJY%3D"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p> ✄ example of an installation made with wooden soldiers.</p> <p> <u><em>Love is in the air</em></u> 2010</p> <p>  </p> <p> ♘ The Starting point of the project is <strong>the poem</strong> by Victor Hugo <em>The Expiations</em></p> <p> ❝It snowed. Someone was defeated by his conquering.</p> <p> For the first time, the eagle lowered its head.</p> <p> Heavy days! The emperor came back slowly,</p> <p> Letting Moscow in smoke burn behind him.</p> <p> <a href="http://www.aestheticrealism.net/poetry/Expiation-Hugo.htm" target="_blank">(...)</a></p> <p> Is it my punishment, he says, God of armies?</p> <p> Then he hears himself called by name</p> <p> And someone speaking to him in the shadows, says: No.❞</p> <p> Jersey, November the 30th 1852</p> <p>  </p> <p> ♘ The cohort of soldiers displayed in the great balrom echoes the satiric but also epic vision of Hugo.</p> <p> ♘ The bodies of  grenadiers, hussards, cuirassiers or even horses are mingled and mixed together, given birth to unique, monstruous ill conceived and grotesque soldiers.</p> <p> These soldiers, this creatures recall the grotesques figures by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Callot" target="_blank">Jacques Callot</a> in the 17th century and especially the serie of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Grandes_Mis%C3%A8res_de_la_guerre" target="_blank"><i>The Great Miseries of War</i></a> that highlights the absurdities and quirks of war.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/The_Hanging_by_Jacques_Callot.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/The_Hanging_by_Jacques_Callot.jpg"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p> ✄ Here some sketches of the soldiers</p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60ktl360T1qbxiygo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60ktl360T1qbxiygo1_1280.jpg"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60ksgD2c11qbxiygo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60ksgD2c11qbxiygo1_1280.jpg"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60kgtAit01qbxiygo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m60kgtAit01qbxiygo1_1280.jpg"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p> ♘ The soldiers are transformed into creatures through the use of taxidermy  resin jaws (see picture below), eyes of different shapes and sizes, protuberances and bulges.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://onfinite.com/libraries/1430375/ed2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://onfinite.com/libraries/1430375/ed2.jpg"></a></p> <p>  </p> <p> ♘ The army is made up of a hundred of soldiers with size from 20 cm to 60 cm.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Thanks for your help!</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p> <p>  </p>