Insula Ovinium

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Cyril Lepetit

Cyril Lepetit was born in Cherbourg, France and lives and works in London. His work deals with sexuality in the widest sense of the term: "It's about desire. I like to describe my work using the language of cinema. Like a camera panning out, I want to shift the focus and widen the field of vision, whilst linking the meaning and context of each shot.

 Imagine that a camera is focused in on the organ: the object of desire, but slowly, it slides and pans out to show a body, then another, then 2 people, and then their attitudes and their behaviour. It pans out again to take in their relationships, a society, then societies, then Humanity.

 In creating devices or putting into place actions, in contexts I've borrowed from reality, I create situations that I call 'fantasised'. They deal with sexuality, and with existence. They are usually devised to receive visitors, in the expectation of their reaction, of their taking a stance. Out of a concern for fairness, or perhaps simply out of a desire to bring myself closer to other individuals, I involve myself in these situations.

 In trying to bring myself closer to life, or trying to immortalise these moments lived during an exhibition, I resort to images, because they are a proof that can be manipulated. Through these manipulations, I try to reconstruct the evolution of my thought, from the birth of my desires to my acting them out, with a respectful infidelity. I create an aesthetic of pleasure and search through the mechanisms of desire, trying, perhaps, to put the complexity back to reality

 In  1995 Cyril studied at the Beaux Arts de Caen, France ( D.N.S.E.P equivalent of BA + Master ) , and in 1993Ulster College of Art, Belfast (Erasmus Programme). He has done residencies in Tokyo, and Taiwan, and has recently had a solo show at the Contemporary Art Centre of Normandy.