Jacky Poulier is a talented and discreet Guadeloupean sculptor who deserves to be more known. However, some of its works are exhibited in traffic circles or on squares on the island. He has just participated in the Pool Art Fair Guadeloupe which took place from June 17 to 19 of this year but one of his exhibitions surprised everyone, it was the one which took place from June 20th till July 4th, 2015 in the Salle Rémi Nainsouta of Pointe-à-Pitre. His name was “Re … Birth”, an exhibition of sculptures made out of iron chain.
Because it is regarded as an element of suffering during slavery, the iron chain was brought back into favor through Jacky Poulier’s exhibition entitled “Re…Naissance” (Re…Birth). It must be said that the opening was original or even disconcerting for the many guests. Indeed, all eighteen sculptures were packed like Easter eggs and the Salle Rémi Nainsouta floor was “sprinkled” with long pieces of iron chain. “I wanted to play devil’s advocate by using as material iron chain which represents our misfortune during slavery. Maybe some people thought that I was losing my mind when they entered the room and they discovered the scenography but, then, they were delighted when I unveiled each sculpture. I think this is the first time works are presented this way”, says the sculptor.
A well thought out exhibition
Every link in the iron chain has been welded to take the desired shape which represented a lot of work, however, the artist says : “I had planned this exhibition to make positive the chain for one year ; my ideas were clear in my mind so, last January, I started to sculpt, it took me six months“.
Several sculptures did not go unnoticed by the visitors as “Diktat”, “The Fakir” and the impressive composition made with hanging pieces of chain revealing Nelson Mandela’s face, the South African leader.
But, the central work of the exhibition was “Re…Naissance” which represented a new character that goes out of an egg mounted on a base where are written words reflecting the renewal of this Guadeloupean man as “To Love”, “To Find”, “To Work”, “To Hear”…
A sculptor in the service of the people
Jacky Poulier is a self-taught person. As a teenager, he began to draw then, he wanted, he tells,“to discover the depth, all three dimensions of things” by experimenting sculpture.
“I started with Bois d’Inde* a very hard wood that I sculptured with chisels of carpenter. Then, I used clay which is very fragile. So, I adopted Epoxy resin because I had time to work it. But, the material I prefer is bronze for its extraordinary solidity”, explains Jacky Poulier.
This talented sculptor has already made several public works which can be admired by everybody, for example : the statues of“Freedom Heroes” – Ignace, Solitude and Delgrès – in Les Abymes ; the bronze bust of the first Guadeloupean woman lawyer and deputy, Gerty Archimède, in Morne-à-l’Eau ; the bust of the ka drummer, Marcel Lollia known as “Vélo”, in the pedestrian street in Pointe-à-Pitre ; the memorial of “The 100 shot in May 1802” on Place de la Victoire in Pointe-à-Pitre.
The Man at the centre of creations
Besides, these last twenty years, the sculptor participated in about fifteen events. His first personal exhibition “Formes et Couleurs” (Shapes and Colors) took place in July 1995 in Salle Rémi Nainsouta in Pointe-à-Pitre. Two years later, he came back to the same venue with “Sculptures et Cordes Tendues” (Sculptures and Tense Ropes). In July, 2005, his favorite space hosted his exhibition“Du Fil et à Re…Cordes”.
“I think that Man is at the centre of my concerns, Man with his history, his metaphysical questions, his ambiguities, his future, his reason for being, his responsabilities in relation to the other living beings and to Earth where he lives (…)”, says the artist.
For his next exhibition, Jacky Poulier would like to make faces with links of iron chain.
