Fougères: what are these soap sculptures near the castle?

At the entrance to the Château de Fougères and surrounding areas, in the public garden or on the square in front of the Saint-Léonard church… new works created by Menton artist Frédérique Nalbandian dot the Upper and Lower Town, in Fougères.

With Renversement, the sculptor is the guest of the sixth edition of Place aux artsthe summer contemporary art event organized by the city of Fougères, until September 15.

The official launch is scheduled for Friday, May 31.

Surprises every year

Place aux arts artists are accompanied by the exhibition curator Philippe Piguetparticularly in the choice of installation locations.

The works presented rarely leave residents and tourists indifferent.

This year, it is the worked material which is intriguing because the sculptures of Frédérique Nalbandian are in soap.

I started by using plaster, then paraffin and finally soap, which comes from one of the last artisanal soap factories, the Fer à Cheval soap factory, in Marseille. I like the whiteness of the material, its ambivalence, the fact that it is present and absent at the same time”

Placed mainly outdoors, subject to the vagaries of the weather, heat, rain, wind, each work is bound to evolve: “It is a living and very resistant material. Time acts on it in the same way as on other materials such as wood for example.”

Almost five meters high

Inspired by the body, the human, which she reveals in fragments, the artist shows an arm here, a spine there. The columns are precisely at the center of his work, in reference to verticality, to the fact of “standing upright”.

Made up of castings made in buckets and placed one above the other, the largest ones stand almost 5 meters high.

In Fougères, visitors will be able to contemplate several of them, named according to location where they were placed, and will also discover a “prose wall” in homage to the walls of the fortress.

Struck by “the dark color of the city’s stones, particularly the tombstones behind the Saint-Sulpice church,” Frédérique Nalbandian created several pieces inspired by Fougères.

And will give the public the opportunity to express themselves and create their own works in a receptacle filled with water, with Imperfect Soaps.

Heritage workshopson Fridays July 19 and August 23, will invite 5/7 year olds and 8/12 year olds to “come and relax in the artist’s soapy universe”, and create their own scented and colorful soap work.

Place for the arts. Reversal, soap sculptures by Frédérique Nalbandian. Visible in Fougères from May 31 to September 15.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon -.