Léonard Martin - Villa Albertine

Visual Arts

New Orleans

“I hope to gradually outline a narrative that uses the character of Harlequin as a metaphor for his wandering. Our world resembles his fragmented and composite costume; we can only patch together what has been destroyed and find the strength to unite despite the crimes of the past and ongoing ones.”

Who?

Through a multidisciplinary artistic practice, I strive to build bridges between so-called high culture and forms of popular expression. I draw my themes from historical, literary, or cinematic sources, seeking connections or possible shifts from one era and language to another.

This desire has led me to decode James Joyce’s writing through the form of a mechanical fairground sculpture, to recognize in Paolo Uccello’s knights carnival figures inspired by the Giants of the North, and to imagine a missing scene from a Michelangelo Antonioni film in painting.

With the means of a tinkerer (someone who repurposes what they find) and the perspective of a child (someone who has yet to speak), I attempt to approach our fragile world and the irreparable human adventure.

Léonard Martin joined the TEMPLON gallery in January 2024 with a solo exhibition of new works, the result of a dialogue between painting and cinema undertaken during his residency at the Villa Medici in 2019. After a journey from the Beaux-Arts de Paris to the Fresnoy – Studio national, Léonard Martin continues to develop a body of work engaged in several disciplines. In 2021, he created “k minuscule” in collaboration with artist and friend Elvire Caillon, a performance inspired by Franz Kafka’s writing for the Nanterre – Amandiers and Théâtre de la Cité Internationale. In 2019, his mobile sculptures paraded through the streets of Florence and Paris for the Nuit Blanche. He has exhibited at the Fontevraud Abbey, Palais de Tokyo, Villa Emerige, and has participated in the Gwangju Biennale (Korea) and the Lyon Biennale. His work has been awarded numerous prizes (Audi talents, Dauphine, ADAGP) and acquired by several collections (Fond d’art contemporain de la Ville de Paris, Société Générale, etc.). In 2025, he will exhibit at Muba in Tourcoing and at the TEMPLON gallery in Paris.

What?

“Erased Harlequin” was born from a desire to experience the festivities of Carnival and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

I aim to gather a documentary collection composed of archives, narratives, and living testimonies that reflect the history of Carnival and anticipate future issues in its social and environmental aspects. I would like to use this time to create observation sketches, conduct interviews, take travel notes and photographs, which will form the raw material for a returning exhibition.

I hope to gradually outline a narrative that uses the character of Harlequin as a metaphor for his wandering. Our world resembles his fragmented and composite costume; we can only patch together what has been destroyed and find the strength to unite despite the crimes of the past and ongoing ones.

What does Carnival reveal or obscure about our historical connections? What common and desirable future can Carnival envision?

Where?

New Orleans, with its rich cultural blend, history, and geographical location, carries both the wound of the past and the promise of the future. The city’s Carnival (one of the largest and most famous) continues to unfold even after Hurricane Katrina, after COVID-19, and after decades of racial segregation.

The extraction of oil followed the exploitation of human labor in plantations. This industrial age no longer hides its ecological and human cost: the beads that once served as currency in the slave society and are now distributed during Carnival were produced on the other side of the planet, leaving traces of heavy metals in the city’s waters. The petrochemical industry is the origin of the region’s nickname, “Cancer Alley.”

The fates of different communities are painfully intertwined in the face of past and future history. Carnival seems to be a suspended time between past injustices and anticipated threats.

True to the spirit of Carnival, I would like to explore the hidden or obscured aspects of the celebration without losing the subversive joy and popular resistance that form its vibrant core. I wish to attend Mardi Gras festivities, meet members of various communities (krewes, marching bands, Black Indians), visit places dedicated to popular culture and the history of Carnival (The Presbytère, The Historic New Orleans Collection), engage with researchers from Tulane University, and explore Louisiana to discover its multiple cultures (Creole, Cajun, Caribbean, American).

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