Rodolphe Huguet's works concern a rather unholy matrimony between the natural and the industrial, bound together by the artist's hand in quite unusual ways, resulting in objects that are rendered at once impotent and striking.  Vespa Velutina Road, the exhibition of his most recent works now on view at galerie martinethibaultdelachâtre, is centered around an eponymous sculpture, a broken wheelbarrow painted black with the bronzed front of a Vespa scooter attached to it.  The striking colors and the dynamic design of the Vespa recall at the same time a vehicle for a comic book superhero and the vicious wasp which is the artwork's namesake, but this threat is immediately negated by the humbleness of the wheelbarrow which supports it.

Along the walls around the Vespa Velutina are hung a series of what look like long branches of thorns from some menacingly dangerous vine, painted white and arranged along the wall like a series of knives or kitchen instruments.  Reading about them caused some confusion when I learned that they were made of bronze--though inspecting the materials could not reveal them as such, being covered in a layer of paint, under which looked like another coat of paint.  But it was confirmed, that yes, the artist created these thorny objects from rods of bronze, with real thorns painstakingly adhered to the surface in an immaculate imitation of natural patterns.  It's quite remarkable that these spiny vines are entirely crafted; covered with that quick layer of white paint hides their material origins and it is impossible to distinguish them from what we could plausibly find in nature.

This ambiguity of materials doesn't follow in the other series on display, the Nids d'ailes, or nests of wings, which is crafted from the outer shells of cars cut and crumpled into the shape of wings with actual swallows' nests mounted to the outside--the entire assemblage coated with a shiny coat of blue or silver car paint. 

Throughout these series of sculptures Huguet is working on different levels of the joining of artificial and natural--from recalling natural forms via industrial materials to the incorporation of natural materials in an industrial form.  My only gripe with the show is that there are so many of the Nids d'ailes on display in the front room with very little variations between them.  The seriality certainly recalls the state of automobile manufacturing, but I think instead I would like to see many other different works with these surprising and unusual combinations of material and form exploring the same concepts and giving increased depth to the conclusions the artist is finding.  But perhaps I will have to wait for the retrospective...

--Natalie Hegert

(*Images, from top to bottom:  Rodolphe Huguet, Nids d'ailes, 2009, Aile de Citroen C6 cabossée, nid d'hirondelle, résine pulvérisée, peinture métallisée vernie, 104 x 72 x 17 cm (40.9 x 28.4 x 6.7 in.).  Rodolphe Huguet, Vespa Velutina, 2009, Brouette peinture carrosserie métallisée vernie, carénage de vespa en bronze poli, 88 x 142 x 60 cm (34.7 x 55.9 x 23.6 in.).  Rodolphe Huguet, Cyma (cimaises), 5éléments, Bronze peinture crrosserie, 196 x 260 cm (77.2 x 102.4 in.)  Rodolphe Huguet, Cyma (détail), 2009, Bronze peinture carrosserie.  All images courtesy of the artist and galerie martinethibaultdelachâtre.)