Combustion-3, 2019

Combustion-3, produced by César Bardoux in 2019, condenses the central concerns that run through his work. Coming from a pictorial practice drawing on the sources of classic oil painting and enriched by 3D modeling tools, this black stone on paper reveals an exploration of texture and materiality specific to hypermodernity. The work is a continuation of the quasi-scientific studies carried out by the artist on the elements, transposing onto a traditional support Bardoux's fascination with distorted geometric frames and translucent volumes. Although made of black stone, Combustion-3 suggests an amniotic fluidity, a liquid quality rendered by the play of light and shadow. The precision of the line and the density of the black evoke the bodily memory of our aquatic origins, recurring themes in his work. We perceive a tension between the immutability of the mineral (the stone) and the promise of a constant transformation, of a perpetual change of state, echoing the fusion of temporalities that Bardoux explores elsewhere, by combining ancient techniques and digital simulations.