OH L’AMOUR
A solo exhibition by MYRTILLE TIBAYRENC
7 Sep – 20 Oct 2024
Opening reception
Saturday September 7th from 6PM
Alliance française de Chiang Mai
138 Charoen Prathet Rd. Tel: 053 275 277
9.30 AM – 12 PM 2 – 6.30 PM Closed Sunday
Oh L’Amour gathers Myrtille Tibayrenc’s latest paintings, produced in the past 4 months.
This ensemble is highly inspired by renaissance and middle age paintings the artist explored during a trip to Europe in April of 2024. Most paintings are based on photographs she took of friends and models from Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
The presence of natural elements like animals and plants gives a symbolic touch to this new set of works. The snake is an important component and functions as a timeless symbol, found in multiple myths and religions. It is sensual and repulsive at the same time, a paradox the artist likes to infuse in her work. Myrtille also gives a fresh take on old myths like the one of Daphne who metamorphoses into a laurel tree to protect her from Apollo’s rape. The peacefulness of the woman’s expression as she transforms hides the latent violence of this myth. The use of golden leaves and the classic oil on wood technique increase the timelessness of the images.
This highly oneiric series is juxtaposed with a set of dark and crude works. Scarred body parts in bluish purple hues are set on a black background. The scar is a narrative arc in Myrtille’s paintings. These images remind us of medical pictures enhanced by the presence of the white laboratory rabbit. Myrtille always had a fascination for medical photos and growing up spent hours looking through her father’s books who was a scientist specialized in infectious diseases. She makes a parallel between these raw medical pictures and paintings of martyrs found in Christian imageries.
Another set of works, painted on tiny recycled woods, depicts small animals and insects the artist found trapped in her studio. Like a journal, these small beings painted in rich details are like a daily meditation, reminding us that the extraordinary is all around us and can be found in the smallest things.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
MYRTILLE TIBAYRENC
Myrtille Tibayrenc b. 1980, France
Lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Tibayrenc is a French citizen and grew up in Bolivia, the US and France. She graduated from the École des Beaux Arts in Dunkirk and continued her arts training at the École des Beaux Arts in Marseille, before moving to Thailand in 2006. Her figurative work, inspired as much by observation and photography as by images yielded from the web, is painterly and provocative. Composed of a strong central figure with a bare background, her technique and choice of subjects are directly inspired by renaissance masters enhancing both the timelessness and anachronism of her images. Director of the Toot Yung Art Center since 2008, Myrtille Tibayrenc has become well known for her unconventional curatorial projects, and more recently for her paintings following an acclaimed debut show in Bangkok in 2017. Since then, she has regularly exhibited at both unorthodox sites and established venues in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. She represented France at the Bangkok Biennale 2022, exhibiting a highly noticed painting installation at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.
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