Georges Audet‘s Labyrinths, currently on show at Galerie Joyce Yahouda, are three-dimensional puzzles. Inspired by the environment of his own artist’s studio, Audet created four self-contained environments where floors become ceilings and walls become doors, in a harmonious yet disorienting amalgam of materials. He re-constructs space, folds it, and re-arranges it, by transposing pieces of furniture, floorboards, and architectural moldings, fitting them together in unexpected ways, completely changing their function. The materiality of the distressed wood, the vintage linoleum, and the old wooden letter cases he uses for his composites create a sense of nostalgia and cosiness. There is a beautiful tension between the mundane quality of the objects Audet uses to create his Labyrinths and the deliberate skill he employs to fuse them together. Slices of down-trodden linoleum are joined to create an elegant marquetry, a jumble of random banister uprights are lovingly sanded and evenly spaced to create a slatted wall.
Both familiar and strange, you are bound to get lost in Audet’s elaborate Labyrinths.

Galerie Joyce Yahouda, space 516
Georges Audet: Labyrinths
Sarah Bertrand-Hamel: Contingences
March 24 – April 28, 2012
www.joyceyahoudagallery.com