Livia De Poli
1948 (Conco)
Living in : Belfort
Working in : Belfort
For anyone who has seen Livia De Poli through her five lives, for anyone who has heard her talk about what occupied her during her different periods, beyond the themes developed and the artistic quality of her works, one thing is obvious: work.
So let's appreciate the work and the woman from this angle.
First of all, work as a job, starting at the age of fourteen in a ceramics workshop in Veneto to supplement the family income: an obligation, but also the discovery of a material that can be worked and created at the same time. Imagine the hours of kneading, cutting and modelling that go into a lifetime of working with clay. The gesture, even if precise and based on technical know-how, is never a sudden emergence: the artist "transpires" before being "inspired", and if art is to accomplish talent, it is above all a reworking, an adjustment, a shaping, because it must translate as closely as possible a representation, correspond to an image. "In Genesis (1:27-30), God created man in his own image. Perhaps we should see in this slow elaboration of the creator or creatress, the time necessary to introduce into these pieces of earth, the soul, the spirit that will bring them to life. Creation, whether divine or artistic, is not a miracle; it's first and foremost work.
Extract from Bernard Guthleben's text "Livia De Poli : sortir de la douleur." in the catalog for the exhibition "Les 5 vies de Livia De Poli" at Tour 46, Belfort.
Living in : Belfort
Working in : Belfort
For anyone who has seen Livia De Poli through her five lives, for anyone who has heard her talk about what occupied her during her different periods, beyond the themes developed and the artistic quality of her works, one thing is obvious: work.
So let's appreciate the work and the woman from this angle.
First of all, work as a job, starting at the age of fourteen in a ceramics workshop in Veneto to supplement the family income: an obligation, but also the discovery of a material that can be worked and created at the same time. Imagine the hours of kneading, cutting and modelling that go into a lifetime of working with clay. The gesture, even if precise and based on technical know-how, is never a sudden emergence: the artist "transpires" before being "inspired", and if art is to accomplish talent, it is above all a reworking, an adjustment, a shaping, because it must translate as closely as possible a representation, correspond to an image. "In Genesis (1:27-30), God created man in his own image. Perhaps we should see in this slow elaboration of the creator or creatress, the time necessary to introduce into these pieces of earth, the soul, the spirit that will bring them to life. Creation, whether divine or artistic, is not a miracle; it's first and foremost work.
Extract from Bernard Guthleben's text "Livia De Poli : sortir de la douleur." in the catalog for the exhibition "Les 5 vies de Livia De Poli" at Tour 46, Belfort.
Artist's exhibitions
Les 5 vies de Livia De Poli
01/07/2023 - 03/09/2023(Belfort) Tour 46
Livia De Poli. À corps et à cris
04/06/2022 - 16/07/2022(Paris) Galerie XXI