‘Une Paire de Dames, Hommage à Jean Marais’, Aluminium Dye Sublimation, 94 X 120 cm (38 X 48 inches), 2019.Marcel... Read More
‘Une Paire
de Dames, Hommage à Jean Marais’, Aluminium Dye Sublimation, 94 X 120
cm (38 X 48 inches), 2019.
Marcel Aymé, a French novelist, published in 1943 one of his
most famous short stories - "Le Passe-Muraille" ("The
Walker-Through-Walls"). Mr. Dutilleul, a bourgeois government official
living in Montmartre suddenly discovers that he has the power to go through
walls. Thanks to this fantastic gift he becomes rich, famous and an admirable
figure. Alas, one early morning, when he leaves a married woman’s house after
they spent the night together, his power fades away while crossing the walls. Thus,
our poor protagonist remains since permanently frozen inside the wall.
Jean Marais, a French actor, sculptor and a friend of Marcel
Aymé, has paid a sublime homage to his friend and has transformed the fantasy to
reality: In 1989 his astonishing bronze statue of Aymé himself, stuck in the
wall like his main character, was installed in Place Marcel Aymé in the heart
of the 18th arrondissement in Paris. Being fascinated by this statue
and by Marais’ unforgettable role as the arch villain in ‘Fantômas’, I have
always had the fantasy of placing a couple of beautiful women next to this lonely
mighty figure. The idea of the poker’s pair of queens was amusing. Another
amusing idea was to paint on the wall a small personal graffiti to the love of
my life, something I wouldn’t do so easily outside my computer.
As we see, at times art may well serve as a medium to turn some
of our fantasies to reality. In order to do that and for creating Marais’
statue I used "Le passe-muraille par Jean Marais, Paris" by Yannoid,
licensed under SKETCHFAB Standard.
