Inspired by his time spent on (and under) the soil of Quercy, at the invitation of the Maison des arts, exploring the region and its underground treasures, Lionel Sabatté unveils a body of work combining sculpture, drawing, painting and tapestry.
The artist’s practice has long been shaped by his experience of caves and by the mystery of how forms emerge in these depths: those fashioned by geological phenomena – exuberant sculptures bearing witness to a time beyond human scale – and those of cave paintings, traced by our ancestors in the flickering glow of a flame.
Inspired by these ancestral remains, Lionel Sabatté has created a body of work for which he has developed new techniques, sensitive echoes of the Quercy region: drawing with sheep’s wool, tapestry enhanced with walnut stain, and engraving on blocks of limestone. The result is a hybrid bestiary in which elusive creatures rub shoulders with anthropomorphic figures, as if driven by an underlying desire that seems to set the material in motion.
At the heart of the exhibition, a unique dialogue unfolds with the work of the Spanish master Francisco de Goya, thanks to the exceptional loan of a series of engravings from the Goya Museum, which will host an exhibition of Lionel Sabatté’s work in 2027.
The exhibition Un Désir souterrain A desire underground is on display in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie until 30 August at the Maisons Daura, and in Cajarc until 1 November at the Maison des arts. It can also be seen at the Pech Merle Prehistory Centre, where a sculpture is on display; installed outdoors, it was inspired by the artist’s visits to the cave.
In partnership with Les Abattoirs, Museum – Frac Occitanie Toulouse.
In collaboration with the Goya Museum, Castres, and the Pech Merle Prehistory Centre, Cabrerets.
With the support of Occitanie Pierres.
