In his solo exhibition at the Frac Normandie and the Normandie Impressioniste festival, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot : points de suspension, the artist presents a generous project that resonates with the architecture of the former 17th century convent that houses the Frac. The artist proposes a reflection on the garden space and the perception of landscape.

In the cloister courtyard stands a sound sculpture-recalling the bandstands of the past envolée, a circular arrangement of eight swings topped with as many antique church bells, whose rhythmic motion, set in movement by visitors, brings forth their sound.

The swing is both a game and a ritual spanning centuries, from ancient Egypt to 17 century French gardens. A symbol of spring renewal, it is also seen as marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. Envolée is connected to the work plage, a vast 900 m2 expanse of glass. Like a crystalline lake with rippling and transparent effects, it invited everyone to project themselves into it and wander across it. Here, the bells become a jubilant sonic element, redeploying their poignant timbre at the heart of this arid, shimmering garden to form an open-air composition.

While the outdoor landscape can be contemplated directly from the courtyard, the experience continues inside the building with the work cameraobscura: based on the optical principle of the camera obscura which here is expanded to the scale of the exhibition space. The artist performs a live, literal inversion of the horizon before the viewer’s eyes. Visitors can pause on swings suspended from the roof structure and discover how the sound of the bells also reveals the image. Transported, they find themselves with the sky beneath their feet, contemplating this inverted landscape fresco.

Revisiting in his own way the theme of light and its vibration, so dear to the Impressionists, Céleste Boursier-Mougenot offers an experience that is both deeply contemporary and timeless.