Marc Vellay

Marc Vellay has been sculpting, drawing, engraving, and photographing for over twenty years. His work is featured in several significant private collections in France and Belgium. His large-scale bronzes adorn numerous buildings or gardens in the Paris region. His expression ranges from an assumed narrative figuration to certain forms of abstraction. His inspiration draws from both major texts (mythology, Bible, European literature) and current events, science, and nature. He works in cycles, sometimes spanning several years. In 2004, Marc Vellay emerged from a long cycle of work related to his departure from Paris in search of space and tranquility in rural areas... He had already defined his field of research: fullness and emptiness, shadows. From the inaugural exhibition "Fullness and Looseness" at the Château du Tertre in Orne in 2004 to the rupture introduced into his work by the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, he continues to explore how line can define the volume of the body in space. He tackles the figure. He refines his post-Cubist roots and maintains the notion of edges that structure the body. He strives to reach the essential and minimal features that alter its perception. Like the oak frames that define the spaces of a roof, he treats busts and heads, sometimes even approaching portraiture. Then, moving to human scale, he begins a cycle he calls his "filiforms," with a bronze line defining the title: "Hand on Hip," "Thick Hair," "Wide Hips." He continues this exploration until 2007-2008. He then senses that the tensions perceptible in society and daily life are about to explode. He addresses this sense of impending danger by multiplying figures of "fighters," "guardians," and "sentinels."