Nadia Naveau (°1975) is best known for her figurative sculptures. The typically seductive, surprising sculptures are the result of a balanced play with colors, shapes, scales and various materials such as plaster, ceramics, bronze, plasticine and polyester. Naveau’s sculptures reveal a certain postmodern twist because of their eclecticism. For example, a single image can evoke references to The Simpsons, music as well as to classical antiquity, baroque or Mexican culture.

The sculptures contain multiple references that introduce substantive and formal stratification. As such, they are often described as three-dimensional collages. She is fascinated by the images that surround her – no matter how banal, important or art-historical the reference may be. Popular children’s heroes such as Goofy have the same weight in Naveau’s universe as Mexican masks and images of classical or modern masters such as Bernini and Brancusi. The visually engaging sculptures require time to be viewed, under- stood and, above all, absorbed; they are an antithesis to the fast, digital image consumption of the 21st century.

Extract from the text by Charlotte Crevits for the exhibition at MDD, 2019

Artists: Nadia Naveau