Yves Dana: Terres de Mémoire

November 08, 2018 - December 22, 2018

Yoshii Gallery is pleased to present “Terres de Mémoire” by Yves Dana.  In 2002, Dana had his first U.S. exhibition with Jan Krugier Gallery.  Now, 16 years later, he finally returns to New York.This exhibition features stone and bronze sculptures from 2013. Born in Egypt and raised in Switzerland, Yves Dana has always maintained a strong fascination with his homeland.  This nostalgic longing led Dana to travel back to Egypt in 1996, an experience that ultimately transformed his sculptural practice. His early work consists primarily of iron abstractions that evoke associations to machines and instruments, but in Egypt he began working with stone for the first time.  He was inspired by the power and purity of form in ancient Egyptian sculpture, which led him to simplify the shapes and surfaces of his work into the elegant sculptural forms that we see today. These works are evocative of the duality inherent in the quest for equilibrium. Clean, elegant silhouettes are juxtaposed by rough and complex surface details.  Heavy metals and stone are transformed into shapes that balance on edge, as if weightless.  They evoke reminiscences of the ancient past, while remaining firmly in the contemporary present. This harmonious interaction of contraries creates a powerful sense of balance and serenity.

Dana’s primary materials are iron, bronze, and internationally imported stone.  He engages with these materials through a combination of innovative techniques and traditional tools, which allow him to achieve precise plane structures. Each sculpture is the result of a solitary, often athletic process of transforming the raw matter over the course of several weeks or months.  Through this long and arduous work, difficult materials are transformed into sculptures that appear graceful, timeless, and serene.

Yves Dana was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1959.  He received a BA in Sociology at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and a MFA from l’Ecole des Beaux Arts of Geneva. He now resides in Lausanne, Switzerland, and creates out of his studio L’Orangerie de Mont-Repos.  His work was featured in a major solo retrospective at Espace Arlaud in Lausanne in 2015, and he was awarded the Lauréat de Grand Prix de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la Création (2015). His works have also been featured in important museums and gallery exhibitions, including the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Musée Jenisch in Vevey, and several private collections.