Apparition is a powerful ‘container’, a sort of transitory state where language fights to survive. It’s a dance between what can and could, the past and the future. – Manuel Mathieu
Manuel Mathieu (b. 1986, Haiti) is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, drawing, ceramics, and installation. His work investigates themes of historical violence, erasure and cultural interpretations of the body, nature, and spirituality. Mathieu’s interests are partially informed by his upbringing in Haiti and his experience emigrating to Montréal at the age of 19, creating works that freely operate in between and borrow from numerous historical and artistic influences and traditions.
Mathieu has developed a distinctive abstract visual language that invites us to openly interpret what we might see in a work. Amorphous forms vacillate and dissolve into one another, creating boundless landscapes, or what the artist terms apparitions. The vibrational effect of his work elicits physical and emotional frequencies that offer alternative methods for navigating the world.
The end of figuration is Mathieu’s first institutional solo exhibition in Europe and focuses on a series of new paintings and a site-specific fabric installation reaching through the centre of the gallery. The artist’s mixing of mediums across painting, ceramics, and fabric is underpinned by a provocation: how might we conceive the end of figuration within art making, such that we see in a work only what we wish to find? In posing this question, he simultaneously highlights art’s inevitable failure to capture reality alongside its potential to be an illuminating vehicle for processing our past and present experiences.
Mathieu’s works can be seen as attempting to represent that which is often unrepresentable – the emotive, intimate, violent, and chaotic energies that charge our everyday; apparitions that crystallise and dissipate in the moments of our looking.
EXHIBITION SUPPORTED BY
IN THE PRESS:
There are plenty of welcoming and good value B&Bs & boutique hotels in Bexhill. The De La Warr Pavilion regularly uses the following :
- By Rail
Direct trains go from London Victoria, Brighton and Ashford to Bexhill.
There are also trains from London Charing Cross, changing at St. Leonards Warrior Square and from London Bridge or Charing Cross going to Battle. Battle is only a short taxi journey away (15 mins approx).
Visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for up-to-date train travel information. - Taxis
Town Taxis: 01424 211 511
Parkhurst Taxis: 01424 733 456 - By Car
If driving from the London area:
Take the M25, then A21 to Hastings. Turn off at John‘s Cross and follow the signs to Bexhill.
OR
Take the A22 to Eastbourne, go across the Bishop roundabout to the A271 and follow the signs to Bexhill and the seafront. The De La Warr Pavilion is on the Marina.
From the Brighton area:
Follow the A27 out of Brighton until you arrive in Bexhill On Sea. - Parking
Please be aware the Rother District car park outside the De La Warr Pavilion operates paid parking until 7pm. After this time parking is free. There is also lmiited free car parking along the seafront.
Within the limits of this Grade One listed building, the De La Warr Pavilion strives to be fully accessible with a range of facilities to support your visit.
Assistance Dogs are permitted into the building.
Please contact the Box Office on 01424 229 111 to arrange a visit.
Facilities for disabled visitors
- Ramped access at the front of the building
- A low counter at the Box Office and Information Desk
- Disabled toilets on two floors
- A lift to all floors
- Accessible galleries on both floors
- An accessible Café
- Spaces for wheelchairs in the auditorium for seated events
- Ramped access in the auditorium for events during the day
- Ramped access into the Studio
- Two travel wheelchairs are available for use at the De La Warr Pavilion. To reserve, please call our box office and information desk on (01424) 229111 or ask a member of staff on arrival. The chairs are provided on a first come, first served basis and are intended for use inside the Pavilion. Please contact us for more information.
Facilities for blind or visually-impaired
- Large print season brochures
Facilities for the hard-of-hearing
- An T-Switch induction loop in some areas of the auditorium (please indicate when booking as this facility is not available on the balcony)
- British Sign Language interpretation tours of the building and exhibitions are available on request.