For his exhibition À travers l’évolution, nous voyageons (Through Evolution, We Travel), Andrew Lewis takes over the curved wall of the art library. Twenty-three works, mainly large-format oil paintings and charcoal drawings, can be viewed as a journey through space and time.
The common thread running through the exhibition, as is often the case in Andrew Lewis’s work, is evolution, approached on different scales: that of an era, a lifetime or a part of existence. Evolution, in the historical sense, allows him to analyse changes in the social status of individuals.
Andrew Lewis creates an original synthesis: transposing into painting and drawing calm and hieratic characters interacting with time, which itself is evolving.
Two temporalities thus run through the works presented: that of scientific discoveries that allow humanity to change its point of view, and that of cultural and social evolution, which is more sensitive.
Epochs collide, offering anachronistic temporal variations. Different technical developments and the advent of progress meet social developments. The universe becomes a
multiple and disturbing space-time.
© Andrew Lewis, All hail to the Zeus, 2009, courtesy of Andrew Lewis and Art: Concept, Paris; photo by Fabrice Gousset
Despite their mysterious nature, halfway between reality and science fiction, Andrew Lewis’s works are like time machines. In an enigmatic visual narrative, his works evoke historical moments of transition.
The exhibition was produced in partnership with the Art : Concept gallery, Paris.