Alice Gallery is happy to present Philémon Siesling's first solo show !

Opening : June 12th

The artist shapes light like a master goldsmith, employing an original palette of glass in varied hues, textures, and opaline transparencies. The iconographic tradition of the medium evokes the sacred. From biblical stained glass windows adorning churches to the floral arabesques of Art Nouveau lamps, images in glass evoke a Platonic sublime sought by our credulous souls.

At first glance, Philémon’s work seems to subvert this legacy.
He deliberately inserts icons of mass consumption into tranquil landscapes or intimate scenes — a bag of Crocky chips, an Amazon smart speaker, a De Meuter construction container... And yet, as sunlight filters through the piece, it transcends the mundane subject into an existential meditation on our environment and the world we’ve built. Is it the contrast between stained glass’s sacred art historical legacy and the seeming banality of the image ? And if, as McLuhan theorized, 'The medium is the message,' then stained glass cannot be trivial, especially when it carries a touch of wit. The hint of humor engages the imagination more powerfully than words ever could.

For his first solo exhibition, the artist presents a dozen pieces arranged as a “program,” much like stained glass windows are curated in churches, developing a poetic reflection on our world, the omnipresence of communication, and its iconic nature.

Trained in various stained glass techniques, notably in Chartres, Philémon’s practice combines different crafts in unorthodox ways. For this exhibition, he has chosen the Tiffany method — the copper foil technique — to make use of a vast range of glass types: hammered, marbled, frosted, embossed, wrinkled, pleated, wavy, etched, striated, polished, moiré, cathedral, baroque, cloudy, multicolored, vaporous, diaphanous, iridescent, opalescent...