Maxence Chevreau

The exhibition “Tender Arrangements'' consists of Maxence Chevreau’s new body of work inspired by his encounter with sensations, intuitions and objects around the port of Piraeus during his onsite research and a sound installation by Eleni Riga which functions as an air sock, indicating the direction of the wind. This exhibition attempts to tell a story of how we navigate in a state of constant transformation, providing signals, anchoring points and safe harbors to rest and wait in.

In 2021, the artist Maxence Chevreau collaborated with the curator Eleni Riga during their residency GENERATOR #7 at the art center 40mcube in Rennes, France. As a result of their creative dialogue an essay entitled “Tender Arran- gements” was born, offering some thoughts on his sculptures presented in the collective exhibition “Tendres Gravats” (Tender Rubbles) in Rennes. The title evokes the way the artist approaches material: tenderly, in a soft and delicate way, by tending physically towards the materials he works with and by being attentive to their properties.

In 2022, Maxence Chevreau, on the occasion of his collaboration with NOUCMAS, reconnects with the marine lands- cape through Piraeus. In the past, while he studied at the Finistère in west Brittany, he often used to wander around the port there and this is how he became familiar with the continuous inward - outward movement of the sea as well as the aesthetic values of found objects that vary from organic materials to marine equipment and fishing supplies. Here in the exhibition "Tender Arrangements", he attempts to transform these objects with materials, forms and colors motivated by his one-month residency in Athens.

Collapsing the idea of the other, a continuum is formed between the objects, the body of the artist and the gestures resulting from their interaction. According to the Brazilian Czech-born philosopher Vilém Flusser, each gesture can be analyzed as the expression of a particular form of consciousness, that is, as a particular relationship between the world and the one who gestures. When Maxence Chevreau introduces a gesture in the space in the form of sculpture, he ex- presses a certain way of being in the world, one that privileges resilience over certitude. This is why he creates a system of navigation with sculptural arrangements that indicate possible exhibition paths.