Friday Focus: Lucas Dupuy
Lucas Dupuy was born 1992 in London, where he currently lives and works.
Dupuy has developed a distinctive artistic language that aims to find an intersection between both language and form, and in making things that bridge these elements. There is an evident influence of the monumental dynamic materials and constructs of Brutalist architecture of the 20th century in his paintings and drawings, which informs the relationship between perspective, composition and structure.
Recent exhibitions include: Squeezebox Collective Ending HQ Curated by Georgia Stephenson, Elliot Fox and Ted Le Swer London UK 2021, Florist Mews Castor Gallery London 2021, Holding Hands Union Gallery, curated by William Gustafsson London 2021, Glade Cornwall 2020, Parallel Archaeology with BIEN Makoto Kobayashi Oil Tokyo Japan 2020, Adieu to old England, the kids are alright Choi and Lager Gallery Cologne Curated by William Gustafsson 2020, The Form Springs Senesi Contemporanea London 2019, Carousel The Koppel Project Central London 2019, ASANNAT Ostend – BE 2019,, Hopp och Lek pt2 Collaborative project with Amanda Mostrom Blockhouse Tokyo Japan 2019, Gobbledygook The Kennington residency curated by Ziggy Grudzinskis London 2019, On Sundays Watrium Muesum Bien & Lucas Dupuy on the paper Tokyo Japan 2018, Incunable Union Gallery London 2018, Hopp och Lek, Collaborative project with Amanda Mostrom, The Kennington Residency, 2017
Awards :The Acme City & Guilds of London Art School Studio Award 2017; The Clyde and Co art award 2017. Publications : Earth Observations An observation of buildings, coastlines and objects. Photographs and drawings from Japan and England, 2017-20 44pp 150 Copies, signed and numbered Published by Lichen books 2020
Can you tell me about your practice? How do you get started on a piece of work?
Within my practice I am exploring relationships between Architecture, Nature, Language and Form. It really varies how I get started on a piece of work, I spend a lot of time drawing, this really informs the painting and the sculpture and helps me get started on ideas for larger work. Also looking at photographs and listening to music helps the process too.
Who or what are your biggest influences?
My biggest influence is probably Terre Thaemlitz, their music and artwork are very important to me.
Tell us about the construct of your paintings, how do you build up a visual narrative?
Getting started on a piece of work usually involves a few different processes. The most recent paintings I have been making involve using different research images of lichen, forests, drawings and architecture. I create compositions by printing various photographs, drawings, sculpture and paintings over and over again with a xerox printer. Then I either use them as references or I print the image on canvas and then work on top of it using Gouache.
I have recently been working on a lot of sound pieces and sculpture. The sculpture focuses on creating abstract architectural forms that reflect sound.
How important is the choice of material in relation to realizing the concept of your work?
It's really important to me. I spend a lot of time focusing on what materials will help me realise various ideas that I have. Recently I have been 3D scanning lichen that I have gathered from woods in Sweden. I then 3D printed them in resin to attach to various sculptural works. The spray gun and the airbrush are also important tools in my practice, I use them to build up layers and create various mark making within the paintings.
What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
A pair of Large Waldorf speakers my dad gave me, they help the studio sound good.
Can you give us a book recommendation that has been important in your practice? And tell us why it’s important.
I very rarely read. I find it very hard to focus on words for too long, so, I mainly look at artist monographs, photography books, photo reference books. Though recently I have been looking alot at a catalogue for Mobile suit Gundam, a Japanese anime television series created in 1980.
Finally, is there anything new coming up that you would like to tell us about?
I am really focusing my energy in the studio currently, so no shows are planned. I am currently working on a new book of these xerox images I have been making. Curator and Writer Charlie Mills has kindly written an essay on my work for the book which should be out the first half of 2022. I am also working on some projects with Lichen Books which is a publishing house I run with All-Purpose studio, printing publications with artists. I'm excited about sharing some new books with them soon.