NEUE HOUSE New York | 110 East 25th Street
Juliette Dumas & Justin Williams
January 22 - June 1st, 2020
Following her critically acclaimed Whale Flukes Paintings series, Dumas's preoccupation with our environment extends to our blue planet.
The EARTH BREATHES was created during COVID-19 when almost all travel stopped. Dumas wanted to address the fact that for a very short time, the Earth was able to breathe. Hence the title, Spiritus Terra (La Terre Respire) (The Earth Breathes). The painting was finished on April 22, 2020, just on time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth day.
Dumas used the same technique she applied to her Whale Fluke Paintings, using pigments and clay because clay is related to the earth and has a primal feel to it, a decision she made after seeing the cave paintings of Lascaux in France. Clay allowed Dumas to sculpt creating layers by mixing pigments, water and earth, adding and subtracting in a process that was extremely physical , literally bathing with the canvases in the water. Creating the surface of a Primal Earth.
Dumas embraces her continued engagement to the Rio Negro Manifesto (created by Pierre Restany in 1978) which is “Art for Nature” and raising Consciousness about Earth and the Natural World through Art.
