Louis Somveille: Perche

 

Le Perche, a region in the northwest of France, is known for its foliage, wildflowers, rolling hills, and expansive skies. Louis Somveille often retreats here, among various other countryside landscapes, to paint in situ - a key component to his landscape works. Additionally, in French, 'perche' can mean to achieve a psychedelic state after consuming hallucinogens - altered, elevated, at times, enlightened. Continuing with the play on words, it can also be used as a noun for a bird’s perch; a respite from flight for observation. Situated between this multiplicity of meanings, we find the current that flows through his recent works.

 

A particular verse from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass comes to mind:

Eidolons, defined as phantoms, images, or representations of something, often abstract or idealized, could be said to visit Somveille in his self-imposed solitude. Often, the lack of something makes one's appreciation for it grow stronger; in this case, companionship. Friendship is deeply embedded in the works - the rabbit is the Chinese zodiac sign for the year 1987, in which many of Somveille’s closest friends were born. The animal surfaces as a repetitive instinctual shape in his arsenal, appearing as a sort eidolon when it’s needed. Alternatively, friendship is rendered as jewelry - symbolic offerings gifted from friends, which
by painting, he returns the gesture of gratitude. 

 

References to the importance of music and pop culture at large are prevalent in the work energetically and rhythmically. Sometimes overtly, sometimes more subtly. Brushstrokes are paced in a similar flow to that of freestyle jazz. Though they come together improvisationally, they are anchored by a deeply rooted tempo. Phantoms reveal themselves as different symbols, movements, and strokes. The natural world, spirit of music, relationships, and representations of the self convene freely, leaving space to transit the canvases as his environment, and state, changes.

 

-  Leah Gudmundson

 

 

Louis Somveille (b. 1994, Nancy) is an artist based in Paris. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from ENSAD, Nancy. His work has previously been exhibited at Zero Space, Athens (2025), Héroïnes, Frankfurt (2024), The Community, Paris (2023), and La Volonté, Saint-Ouen (2023, 2021).