Statement
Surrealism & Contemporary Narrative Art
Through surreal scenes with a deceptively lighthearted tone, Sophie-Gaëlle Martin illustrates existential anxiety and depicts the liminal state, the peaceful instant, and the unawareness surrounding tragedy.
Her bittersweet visual narratives, characterized by precise lines and intense, contrasting colors - typical of the design style of the 1970s and 1980s - portray disillusioned characters whose gazes are haunted by tragic experiences.
70s & 80s
A child of Generation X, Sofigael M. was born in the mid-1970s, right in the heart of the disco era, and was fortunate enough to experience one of the most free, joyful, and expressive periods in contemporary Western society.
Raised wearing orange shirts with pointed collars and flared velvet trousers, listening to the music of The Supremes, The Alan Parsons Project, and David Bowie, the artist then moved into her adolescence in the 1980s, sporting black jackets and neon pink hairbands, to the sounds of post-punk and the electric rhythms of the New Wave of Blondie, Simple Minds, The Cure, and Depeche Mode.
During her university years, Sophie-Gaëlle immersed herself in grunge music and the synth-driven sounds of London's electro-house scene.
![Enfant de la génération X, Sophie-Gaëlle Martin est née au milieu des années 70 en pleine vague Disco, et a eu la chance de vivre une des époques les plus libres, joyeuses et expressives de la société occidentale contemporaine[Jazzy cats - Huile sur coton]](https://www.sofigael-m.art/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Jazzy-cats-Sofigael-M-721x1024.jpg)
![Inévitablement, au vu du marasme actuel, Sophie-Gaëlle a eu envie de nous replonger un peu dans cette ambiance passée bénie, et le pari est réussi : on écoute avec plaisir ses peintures couleur menthe-à-l’eau ou purple rain, et son petit refrain effronté bleu électrique. Et on se laisse prendre en douceur, par ce je-ne-sais quoi décadent et sexy du No Future de la fin du 20e siècle.[Don't kill the Punk - Huile sur lin]](https://www.sofigael-m.art/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Dont-kill-the-Punk-BD-Sofigael-M-834x1024.webp)
Nostalgic for the energy, the boldness, and the artistic richness that defined that era, the artist wished to immerse us once again in that bygone atmosphere where everything seemed more sparkling and lighter.
The wager has paid off: we enjoy listening to his paintings in mint-green or purple-rain hues, and his cheeky little electric blue refrain. And we let ourselves be gently carried away by that je-ne-sais-quoi of insolence and sexiness from the No Future spirit of the late 20th century.
Extrasolar utopias
Raised by a mother who taught Modern Literature and introduced her to "Brave New World" at the age of 8, and by a father who was an architectural draftsman and a keen reader of the "Présence du Futur" science fiction series, Sophie-Gaëlle Martin, an amateur cosmologist steeped in futuristic scenarios and stories from the Twilight Zone series, pushes exoticism to the extreme with her extrasolar worlds featuring pop art aesthetic.
![Sophie-Gaëlle Martin, cosmologue amateure biberonnée aux scénarios d’anticipation, pousse l’exotisme à l’extrême avec ses univers extrasolaires aux couleurs pop. Elle nous parle d’un exil passé ou futur, et nous dépeint une vie ailleurs, réinventée à l’aube de cataclysmes hauts en couleurs et désormais inévitables.[Nos galaxies - Sofigael M. ART - Huile sur lin - 65 x 81 cm]](https://www.sofigael-m.art/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Nos-galaxies-Sofigael-M-1024x822.webp)
Fascinated by space and quantum physics, and in love with great journeys, the artist takes the plane to see the Earth “from afar.”
She enjoys speaking to us of a past or future exile, and depicts a life elsewhere, reinvented at the dawn of vividly colored and now inevitable cataclysms.
End(s) of the world
Whether it's a tsunami or a drought, an alien invasion, or a peaceful, idyllic scene threatened by lurking predators: moments of relaxation or tenderness are always fragile and fleeting, always vulnerable to danger. The threat is ever-present.
It's the end of the world. An intimate or radical end to the world, but in any case, the end of the world as we know it.
Yet, the work of Sophie-Gaëlle Martin always speaks of resilience.
Resilience and resistance of planet Earth in the face of imminent climate disasters, and resilience and adaptation of human beings, here or in other dreamlike universes.