« Le Printemps de Botticelli » (Botticelli’s Spring)
Véronique Champollion
2009
Height: 2,30m
Resin, pigments and fibreglass
For the most part of the northern hemisphere there is no doubt that spring has arrived this year. This is the reason I’ve chosen as artwork of May Véronique Champollion’s sculpture “Le Printemps de Botticelli – The Spring of Botticelli”. I’ve seen it the first time in beginning of March 2010 in the parc Valrose in Nice, France, visiting the group-exhibition “Si le Printemps revenait – If the spring came back” organised by No-made.
We have often seen Botticelli’s figures leaving their original context: one can buy the newborn Venus as little sculpture, on T-shirts and on umbrellas. So once again: like so many of Botticelli’s creations, the spring has left the painting and was standing there on a flower meadow. I recognised her at once, even if Véronique’s version is more colourful and perhaps a little bit less elegant than Botticelli’s one. Head held high, looking aimlessly into the distance, she seems a bit dreamy. Therefore she doesn’t watch her steps; even though her leg position expresses a hopping stride. Due to the position of her arms, she refers only to herself. This Primavera is entirely with herself, disconnected from the events around: simply not from this world, like it should be for a decent goddess.
But what was she doing here? Lost in daydreams she was scattering flowers somewhere in a wonderful park in Nice, instead of hanging around in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. She convinced me at once, even if the day was one of the first sunny days that year: her bright green dress with coloured flowers, the ease of her walk, sprouting fresh blossoms around her: spring has arrived!
It must have been a really longing for spring in Véronique’s mind when she conceived this sculpture. Since the exhibition opened in the middle of January, it was in the darker cold winter days, when her mind wandered to better weather, when she imagined how it would be, if the spring is coming back: and here she is, the spring in person!
Véronique Champollion
Born in Valence, France (1957) Véronique went to the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) and made her DEA in modern Indian studies. She has been part of divers groups of artist self organisations like ART MOBIL with its journal and No-made, both in the region of Nice. Furthermore she is member of the Association Internationale des Arts Plastiques (AIAP)-Unesco, based in Monaco.
Her works are represented by several Galleries in France, Italy, Monaco and the United States. In the same countries she had numerous personal and group exhibitions, but as well in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Véronique contributed articles and illustrations to various art journals and journals of visual poetry in France and Italy. Her visual poetry stories are published as books in France, Italy and Belgium.
The subject of Botticelli’s spring occupied Véronique several times, as well as other creations of Botticelli like the Judith. Likewise more artists of the history of arts are mirrored in her works as individual interpretations. She also gets her inspirations from legends. Her outcome is varying from panel painting to relief through sculpture. As material she often uses printed undergrounds like newspapers or posters, but she is working as well with resin and fibreglass like in our example.
http://www.champo.com/art/v_accueil.htm