Locus Solus
October - December 2015, Galerie Dilecta
Discover the exhibitionLocus Solus by Raymond Roussel
Published in 1914, not long before the Old World descended into a bloody war, Locus Solus is Raymond Roussel’s enigmatic masterpiece (Paris, 1877, Palermo 1933). The narrative, a guided tour of scientist Martial Canterel’s country estate, reveals a series of his inventions, scattered throughout his property: complex automatons or "bachelor machines” with their strange, brilliant poetry, inspired by evocative stories rife with symbols, lexical games and recurring images.
Othoniel’s Locus Solus
Seven ribbons in the colors of the rainbow, echoing Canterel’s seven inventions, are sewn into the book to mark each of its seven chapters. Othoniel has also inserted his own graphic interventions into the book, as well as images evoking Roussel’s world by other artists (James Lee Byars, Gabriel Orozco or Martial Raysse). In this way, Othoniel allows readers to discover the novel’s secret, revealing it delicately, as if uncovering a diamond buried in the sand. Not unlike Canterel, who welcomed guests at the gate of his property to present the seven wonders it contains, the artist becomes our guide, leading us through the corridors of a Roussellien world. In addition, Othoniel has designed a book-object full of surprises, including a tarot card, photographs and precious medallions.
Othoniel and Roussel
Othoniel has long been haunted by Roussel’s work; one of his first artistic gestures, nearly twenty-five years ago, was to embark on a journey in search of the literal "Locus Solus" villa. Roussel’s books, and Locus Solus in particular, have profoundly influenced Othoniel’s artistic practice, sparking his desire to explore the wonderful, the strange and the enigmatic. "He preserves the mystery, the word play, a sense of the grotesque, the creation of a poetic universe. A document seen by chance in the journal of the Bibliothèque nationale led him to clues about Locus Solus, the mythical villa described by Roussel [...], and to imagine that he might actually find it. He pursued the mystery in a search that, based on a photograph that Roussel had preciously archived, would ultimately lead him [...] to the house of a writer friend, baptized Locus Solus in homage to the famous book. From this adventure, he retained a series of photographs taken in the garden, as well as a Oulipo-style text by François Caradec." (Catherine Grenier).
The exhibition at Galerie Dilecta
Othoniel’s limited-edition artist’s book, from the original text by Raymond Roussel, as well as his first-run edition L’Etoile d’or, were presented in an exhibition conceived by the artist from October 16 to December 19, 2015, at the Dilecta gallery in Paris.