Biography of Angelo Sorrentino and Nathalie Sanche

The works by Nathalie Sanche and Angelo Sorrentino fall into a category all their own, between art and furniture. The pieces bear witness to the freedom of these sculptor-woodworkers, craft artists in wood and metal; their creations call out for the abolition of artistic categories, in the same way as the English creators of the Arts & Crafts movement of the 19th century or the French and Belgian representatives of the Art Nouveau movement of 1900.

Nathalie Sanche handles the casting of metal with strength and delicacy, and Angelo Sorrentino draws on the physical capacities of wood. Anthropomorphism, the life of forms cloaked as if wrapped in their own dynamism, the love of the curve and their audacious association of colour and materials: these are characteristics of the art-furniture of Nathalie Sanche and Angelo Sorrentino. Their chests of drawers, many of which are in the shape of “women-drawers”, are inspired by small, prehistoric fertility statues, with wide hips and ample breasts — remind us of the generosity of Mother Earth and also the Three Graces of Graeco-Roman mythology (Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaia), symbols of radiance, joy and fruitfulness. As though drunk with happiness, they are, in the works of these artists, looking for a higher truth than they find in themselves, in the chests of drawers, from which they free themselves...

So, arms and legs wave entrancingly from a high chest of drawers made of maple and exotic woods: between sculpture and furniture, En confiance! or Take this moment and make it still! call upon the viewer’s imagination. A female figure sculpted of aluminum balances on a on a sensuous, tilting chest of drawers, proclaiming that she is Free free free! On tiptoe, another stretches, a chest-evening gown (Limpid and Clear!). Added to the difficulty of harmonizing forms is the technical challenge: curving the maple or exotic wood, handling the subtle cuts in the material, assembling the metal and wood, achieving a perilous balance in each piece.

These same concerns are found in the monumental aluminum sculptures of Nathalie Sanche and Angelo Sorrentino. Their figures on tiptoe seem to be carried away by the abandoned movement of their forms, like an extravagant dance, caught in the the eye of the sculptors. Les Âmes sœurs or Hourra ! J'ai atteint ma plus grande victoire ! are open forms that take shape when you look at them. These works respond with great plasticity to their titles, full of gaiety and punctuated with exclamation marks: Enfin libre !, Que la lumière passe !, Danse sur l'eau !. The smaller, more accessible sculptures by Nathalie Sanche and Angelo Sorrentino are like an interior monologue to joy (L'Envol, Le Ciel en moi !) or a person’s purest thoughts (Avec douceur, Enfin ! J'ai trouvé en moi).

From the meeting of these two artists and two artistic techniques is born an art form at once exuberant and joyful, ecstatic, surreal and, in the image of these women-drawers with their generous curves, free of complexes.

Magali Lesauvage

Art critic, journalist

Paris, September 2008

Translation, Christina Davidson

Association: Professional members of the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec
metiers-d-art.qc.ca

Angelo Sorrentino and Nathalie Sanche

Awards and Recognition

First mention "Rencontre des Arts" sculpture category, 2007.

Awarded by a jury during the exhibition of paintings and sculptures at the "Rencontre des Arts" in Saint-Jean-sur-le Richelieu.

2nd prize "Rencontre des Arts" sculpture category, 2006.

Awarded by a jury during the exhibition of paintings and sculptures at the "Rencontre des Arts" in Saint-Jean-sur-le Richelieu.

2nd prize "Nature et Création", 2006.

Awarded by the public during the exhibition of monumental sculptures at the "Domaine des Côtes d'Ardoise" in Dunham.

The prize "Le coup de coeur du public", 2004. (Public choice award), Awarded by the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec.

Their work was chosen by the public at the 49th edition of the Salon des métiers d'arts du Québec at Place Bonaventure, Montreal.

First prize at the "One of a Kind" Show in Toronto, 2004.

The prize "Le prix de la relève Jean-Cartier", 2003.

Awarded by the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec, in the category for crafts-artists with less than five years of professional experience, for the quality of their work, at the 49th edition of the Salon des métiers d'arts du Québec at Place Bonaventure, Montreal.

The prize "Le prix Coup de coeur du public", 2003. (Public choice award) Awarded by the Conseil des métiers d'art du Québec.

Their work was chosen by the public at the 48th edition of the Salon des métiers d'arts du Québec at Place Bonaventure, Montreal.

The Port Clinton Art Festival, 2003.

Special Recognition Award to Angelo Sorrentino and Nathalie Sanche.

August 24, 2003.