Following her acclaimed Whale Fluke paintings (2018), Dumas pushed her explorations creating a unique 3D sculpture of “Whale Bones” as seen on the shores of sacred sites from Antartica to Alaska where they mark the entrance to a sacred site, or the grave of a shaman. Ancient coastal cultures saw Whale as a deity and a guardian of the sea. The Hawaiians call them Koholas, the guardians of sacred energy.
The Gateway sculpture aims to activate this energy into the space it is installed in. The Gateway (Whale Bones) 2020, is the artist homage to Whale, an opening into the sacred. This sculpture in two parts can either be installed as an Archway, that the viewer passes through, or as a single unit, creating the start of a double helix.
The Gateway, is comprised of two large halves, both signed with aluminum plates carved by the artist and attached under both metal stands. Each sculpture is created with an aluminum and steel structure covered with white plaster and pigments. This sculpture ( in two parts) can either be installed as an Archway, you can pass through, or as a single unit, creating the start of a double helix.
JULIETTE DUMAS (French, b. 1987 in Paris. Lives and works in France)
Dumas was born in France in 1987. She completed her BA at Villa Arson, in Nice, France in 2010 and her MFA at School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2013. Dumas has been awarded artist residencies at FIAF, Alliance Francaise, NY in 2007; Festival Grandeur Nature, Ristolas, France in 2009 and La Station, Nice in 2015. She was nominated in 2013 for the Clare Rosen and Samuel Edes Foundation Prize for Emerging Artists by the Painting and Drawing Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Dumas’ work was featured in notable group exhibitions including: “Ad Hoc” (2015), La Station, Nice, France (curated by Collectif Culbuto); “Incantations” (2016) and «2020» (2017), The Chimney, NY; “Unseen Hand” (2017), Knockdown Center, NY; “Les Silences de la Fumée” (2017), Hjalteyri, Iceland; “Endnotes” (2018), The Chimney, NY; “Morceaux Choisis” (2021), Bubenberg Gallery, Paris. And notable solo exhibition in Europe, “Winter Studies” (2015), Kunstverein Gaestezimmer E.V, Stuttgart, Germany (Curated by Alf Setzer).
Dumas first solo exhibitions in the United States, took place at Silas von Morisse Gallery, New York, SAFE HARBOR (2016), ANGELS (2018), which presented her critically acclaimed two lifesize "Whale Fluke Paintings". In France, the artist presented DELPHIS TALE (2021) and THE GATEWAY (2023), a life size sculpture of Whale Bones, a continuation of her dialogue and preoccupation with Whales.
Her work is included in numerous international private and corporate collections and is permanently exhibited in the Collection of Temple University New Charles Library, Philadelphia, PA, gift from collector Dennis Alter.
The Gallery is pleased to offer this exceptional work by Juliette Dumas.
JULIETTE DUMAS, THE GATEWAY (WHALE BONES), 2020, Aluminum, steel, white plaster (two large vertical pieces - as a pair), (118.0h x 12.0w in.) 300.0h x 30.0w cm.