Ariel Moscovici

Ariel Moscovici (born 1956, Bucharest, Romania) is a sculptor born in Romania and based in France.

Works His drawings and sculptures have appeared in France at Salons de Mai, Grands et Jeunes d'aujourd'hui, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, 33rd Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, 3Oth Salon de Montrouge, and others. Internationally, his work has been the subject of exhibits and installations in Andorra, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Korea, Taiwan and Japan. Moscovici works have been awarded first prize at the Biennale Internationale de Sculpture Contemporaine, Collioure and purchase awards from the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan. Moscovici's public art work Between Sky and Earth, was installed at Taipei 101 in 2003.

Born in Bucharest, Romania, Moscovici graduated in 1979 from L'École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) in Paris. He now lives at Montbel , in the south of France. He is married to French sculptor Sylvie Rivillon.

Style

Moscovici, normally reluctant to discuss art in words, has in recent years offered a few written comments for exhibit programs. His remarks include the following observations.

In my work I use mostly what may be called classical materials (stone, wood, clay, bronze, metal. etc.) because these are almost abstract and amorphous. Their identity resides mainly in their structure (except for metal). This allows me to model them the way I want while respecting their character.

I want to realize what I call "inhabited forms"--forms that contain energy, as if they could breathe and live by themselves. This is a personal attitude of mine, both classical and modern, as I don't wish to be part of any official fashion or artistic movement.

My subjects have no clear borders. They are connected to each other. My basic themes: nature; landscapes that accommodate and oppose human creation; an architecture of the "spirit"; skeletons and enveloping skin; the evocation of a feeling or a sound or a privileged location; landscapes with flat areas and mountains, rough or modelled, with erosion that is natural or artificial, accomplished by nature or man.

I am lately working on a series of variations on a theme. In Between Three Points I explored the idea of reading a sculpture in time, as in a work of music. The work is built from three pieces that... tell the story of the creation of a form in three chapters: (1) the beginning, birth, or underground level, (2) the initiation, or earth ground level, and (3) the rebirth or result tending toward the sky. The form is not completely free to grow as it will, but is constrained and guided by internal tectonic pressures and external atmospheric pressures. The sculpture can be read in two directions at the same time: horizontally between the three parts and vertically between the ground and the sky....

In Between Earth and Sky the idea is the same but expressed more in the vertical direction. We have axels between two points, places where passage can take place. The axels stand as almost human figures between the matter and spirit, between the underground (hell) and the sky....

The surface of my forms is worked in the same way: smooth areas in opposition to rough ones and simple, almost geometrical, forms facing multifaceted, chaotic accumulations of shapes. Simplicity strikes me as dangerous. It's wrong to try to understand things by eliminating the details instead of understanding the whole in its complexity. I think the details create the whole.

Moscovici's images, though modern, may be described as postmodernist in the sense that they are more archetypal than abstract. Raymond Crampagne describes their effect in a publication by the Chateau le Puget Art Gallery:

The works are not a reflection of geometrical forms in a timeless space. They have a temporal dimension relating not to history or mythology but to a world that existed before both; even so, this world forms the essence of both history and myth. This is a world constantly engaged in struggle. The protagonists in the conflict, humanity and nature, operate in a world of opposites: smooth and rough, gloss and matte, geometrical and irregular, concave and convex, straight and curved, round and square, polished and rough, full and empty, imprint and excrescence, horizontal and vertical, mass and surface. For Moscovici this conjunction of opposites is characteristic of our species' relationship with nature. Though we are ourselves part of nature, we exert our will over matter and impose our own vision, eventually transforming nature to reflect our innermost being.

Like Rimbaud seeking to write the silences, seize the inexpressible, and freeze whirlwinds, Moscovici seeks to translate into images the fundamental rhythms of existence and the mysteries of nature....

Moscovici displays a profound humanism whose expression is anything but extravagant. The means are simple. The eye and the spirit are called inward. ... Here one is facing an uninhabited habitat, a dwelling lacking practical purpose. Only the eye of the beholder will enter and find refuge and, in solitude, dream of habitation.

(Translation: Robert Drew, Jacques Carrio, Alton Thompson)

Installations and exhibits

One-Artist Shows

1985 Galerie du Haut-Pavé, Paris, France The International Art Fair, Lahumière gallery, Basel, Switzerland Maison de la Culture, Courbevoie, France

1986 Galerie du Soir, Paris, France

1987 Espace Gambetta, Carcassonne, France MAC 2000, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1989 Galerie d'Art Contemporain, Chamalières, France

1990 Pierre-Marie Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France Espace Gauthier, Narbonne, France

1991 SAGA (International Multiple Art Fair), Triskel Gallery, Paris, France LINEART, International Art Fair, Ghent (Belgium), Triskel Gallery, Ghent, Belgium

1992 Naito gallery, Nagoya, Japan Pierre-Marie Vitoux gallery, Paris, France SAGA (International Multiple Art Fair), Pierre-Marie Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France Espace Cardin, Triskel Gallery, Paris, France MAC 2000, Grand Palais, Paris, France

1993 Era Bauro Gallery, Andorra Michele Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France

1994 TRISKEL Gallery, LINEART International Art Fair, Gent, Belgium Michele Guerin Gallery, Bonnières, France

1995 SAGA (Internationale Multiple Art Fair), Michel Guerin Gallery, Paris, France Pierre Marie Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France

1996 SAGA (International Multiple Art Fair), Michel Guerin Gallery, Paris, France "Print & Drawing" Co-op, Kyoto, Japan

1999 Pilar Riberaygua Gallery, Andorra NICAF. Nagoya art fair. Naitoh Gallery, Japan Pierre Marie Vitoux Gallery, Paris Michele Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France

2000 Maison Du Roi, Sigean Maria Villalba Gallery, Barcelona, Spain

2001 "Chemins Paralleles, two artistes, Gallery Mssohkan, Kobe, Japan Gallery Miyabi, Nagoya, Japan Gallery Chisai Oyorokobi, Oono, Japan Two artistes, Le Puget Castle, Alzonne, France

2002 Maria Villalba Gallery, Barcelona, Spain

2003 Two artistes, Art is Long Gallery, Kyoto, Japan Two artistes, Today's Gallery, Ozu, Japan Two artistes, Miyabi Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

2004 Castan Gallery, Perpignan, France "Art Paris", Gallery Maria Villalba, Paris Art Fair, France

2005 Maria Villalba Gallery, Barcelona, Spain Michele Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France

2006 Maison du Chevalier Gallery, Carcassonne, France

2007 Karlsruhe Art Fair, Gallery Villalba, Germany KIAF, Seoul Art Fair, Gallery Adriana Schmidt, Korea Two artistes, Gallery Naofu, Gifu, Japan Two artistes, Miyabi Gallery, Nagoya, Japan

Group Exhibits

1985 Visages contemporains de la sculpture en Europe Sculpture International Exhibition, Maubeuge museum Cultural Center, Boulogne-Billancourt

1987 Jardin de sculptures, Chateauvert

1988 Toromania, CIECLE, Gerard Laubie foundation, Massillaugues Couleurs de France, Espace AGF, Paris, France

1990 Points de vue, sculptures, Pierre-Marie Vitoux gallery, Paris, France

1992 Pestalozzi Gallery (Era-Bauro), Berlin, Germany Multiple Art Fair, Adriana Schmidt gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany Graphic Arts Fair, Adriana Schmidt gallery, Barcelona, Spain

1993 Vientos del Este, MAEGHT Gallery, Barcelona, Spain 15 Sculptors, Simoncini Gallery, Luxembourg Maison du Chevalier Symposium, Carcassonne, France

1994 Gioia Lazzarini, Pietrasanta, Italy Trajectes I Convergencies, Morerra museum, Lleida, Spain Verticales, Pierre Marie Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France

1995 Trajectes I Convergencies, National Gallery, Andorra 4 Artistes, Era-Bauro Gallery, Andorra Group Show, Duchamp Gallery, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Group Show, Color Field Art Space, Taipei, Taiwan Simoncini Gallery, Luxembourg Myth in Modern Times (Marsha Child, curator), Riverrun Gallery, New Jersey USA Trajectes I Convergencies, Jardi Botanic, Cap Roig, Spain Trajectes I Convergencies, Tecla Sala, L'Hospitalet, Spain Trajectes I Convergencies, Sala Gaspar, Barcelona, Spain

1996 Memoire des Pierres, Montauban, France Traversée des dimentions, Abbaye de Lagrasse, France 7 sculpteurs, Michelle Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France Group show, Simoncini Gallery, Luxembourg

1997 3 artistes, Mic'Art Gallery, Lille, France Trajectes I Convergencies, Vitoria Gasteis, Spain Saga Art Fair, Gallery Michelle Guerin, Paris, France Hualien Stone Show, Hualien, Taiwan Three Artists, Les Punxes Gallery, Barcelona, Spain Two Artists, 141 Gallery, Nagoya, Japan Artists of the Gallery, Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France

1998 Bras d'honneur, Gerard Laubie Gallery, Massillargue, France Group show, Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France Marbeilla Art Fair, Pilar Riberaygua Gallery, Spain Estampa Art Fair, Michele Guerin Gallery, Madrid, Spain

1999 Stone Sculptures, Hualien Cultural Center Gallery, Hualien, Taiwan Group show, Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France Journée du Patrimoine, Carcassonne, France

2000 "20 sculptors", Les Punxes Gallery, Barcelona, Spain Artexpo Fair, Maria Villalba Gallery, Barcelona, Spain Group show, Girona Cathedral Garden Garden Sculptures. Michele Guerin Gallery. Limetz, France 15 Artists from the East, Mode Expression Gallery, Perpignan, France Estampa Art Fair, Art Estampa Gallery, Madrid, Spain Sculptors of the Gallery, Vitoux Gallery, Paris

2001 France/Israel, Espace des Blanc, Manteaux, Paris, France The White and the Black, Michele Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France Artexpo Fair, Gallery Maria Villalba, Barcelona, Spain Artists of the Gallery, Vitoux Gallery, Paris, France Dearte art fair, Gallery Maria Villalba, Madrid, Spain Rencontre Européene de Sculpture, Montauban, France

2002 Art Fair ARTEXPO, Gallery Maria Villalba, Barcelona, Spain Mode d'Expression Gallery, Perpignan, France La Maison du Chevalier Gallery, Carcassonne, France

2003 ST'ART, Strasbourg Art Fair, Gallery Maria Villalba, Strasbourg, France 10 years, Michele Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France Garden sculptures, Michelle Guerin Gallery, Limetz, France Space 21 Museum, Matsuyama, Japan

2004 ST'ART, Strasbourg Art Fair, Gallery Maria Villalba, Strasbourg, France Miami Art Fair, Gallery Maria Villalba, Miami, Florida USA Five Sculptors, Kraft Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois USA Garden sculpture, Verhage Gallery, Ploegsteert, Belgium 4 Artistes, Palais des congres, Perpignan, France Toy Sculptures, Kraft Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois USA

2005 Perpignan Cathedral, 2-person show, Gallery Roger Castan, Perpignan, France Le Puget castel group show, Triskel Gallery, Alzonne, France Group show, Gallery Maria Villalba, Barcelona, Spain

2006 Karlsruhe art fair, Gallery Michel Guerin, Karlsruhe, Germany Campo Santo garden show, Roger Castan Gallery, Perpignan, France Group show, Gallery Maria Villalba, Barcelona, Spain Group show, Kraft Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Illinois USA

2007 Art Madrid, Art Fair, Gallery Villalba, Madrid, Spain

Monumental Open-Air Sculptures

1987 - Sculpture (1%), Les Aunettes, Évry III, Versailles, Paris, France

1988 - Monumental Sculptures Park, Sculpture Symposium, Gueugnon, France

1990 - UCCOAR, Samary Park, Sculpture International Symposium

1991 - Lavelanet museum, Sculpture Symposium

1993 - International Sculpture Symposia, Carcassonne and Auxerre, France

1994 - Taichung Fine Arts Museum, Taichung, Taiwan

1997 - 1998 Andorra Sculpture Park, Escaldes, Andorra

1999 - Hualien Cultural Center Symposium. Hualien, Taiwan

2002 Between Sky and Earth, Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan Between Two Mountains, Montbel, France

2004 - Fountain for the City of Chalabre, France

2006 -Mosan Symposium, Korea

2007 - Tudela de Duero symposium, Spain

Collections

Long Beach Art Association, New York, New York USA Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, France Raychem Collection, Paris, France Musée de l'Art Contemporain, Chamalières, France Government of Andorra Taichung Fine Arts Museum and Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan