installation view at Galerie Lange + Pult in Zürich raw oil paint on sewn canvas tarpaulins each 36" x 36 inches / 91,5cm x 91,5cm
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "Waterloo will be a picnic." (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "I watched the world spin beneath me." (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Empire Ceramics
Glazed ceramic platter with calligraphy Collection: Fern Bayer, Toronto Translation: "The pear is not yet ripe." (regarding the decisive wait before launching an attack; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic with calligraphy, containing red Bordeaux 6" x 7" x 6 inches 15cm x 18cm x 15cm Collection: Gale/Snow, Toronto Translation: "Place my heart in spirits of wine." (a last request, from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic bowl with calligraphy Translation: "Our whole business consisted in eating cherries together." (regarding his relationship with Josephine; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy, Euro coins. 10" x 10 inches 25.4cm x 25.4cm Translation: "St. Helena, Hmm... small island. —Napoleon Bonaparte as a boy." (Déjà vu as a child towards the island of his banishment and death; from the memoirs of Napoleon)
Glazed ceramic dish with calligraphy, filled with imported sake Translation: "One drop of water causes overflow" (There is a moment in every battle in which the least manœuvre is decisive") —from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte
Glazed ceramic mug with calligraphy, shaving brush, and cake of shaving soap 4.25 inches (10.8cm) height Translation: "I have always shaved myself" (regarding the risk of assassination by a trusted staff person; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "Can one be as fat as I am, and have ambition?" (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "I burnt it" (in reply to what did he accomplish in Moscow; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "We eat dogs, donkeys, and camels." (a journal entry from Egypt on February 27, 1799; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
A Diary of Napoleon's Life in His Own Words Edited by R.M. Johnston in 1910 Published by McClelland And Goodchild, Toronto Printed at Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass
This salute to Napoleonic-style appropriation of an embraced foreign culture is embodied with hand-painted calligraphic translations on ceramic dinnerwares which channel the memoirs of Emperor Bonaparte (taken from entries in his diary "The Corsican"). The installation of ceramics was one section of the Private Language exhibition presented at the Japan Foundation in Toronto during the winter of 1999.
set of five glazed ceramic plates with calligraphy diameter 10 inches / 25,4cm each translation: "Divide & Conquer"
Review by Ingrid Chu of "Private Language" at The Japan Foundation Toronto. Frieze Magazine, Issue 46, May 1999, pg 93/94
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "Kill your Emperor if you wish." (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy 11.5 inches (29.2cm) diameter Translation: "He who wishes to be understood by the people, must first of all speak to their eyes." (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
glazed ceramic plate with calligraphy diameter 11½ inches / 29,2cm collection Le Consortium, Dijon translation: "If you go to the baths of Lucca, I would be very glad to see you." (from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Sketch for "...the baths of Lucca," dinner-plate showing translation of the Bonaparte quote and the initial calligraphy. Ink on graph paper 11" x 8.5 inches
Glazed ceramic planter with calligraphy, potting soil Collection Fela Grunwald, Toronto Translation: "Ivy will cling to the first met tree, that is the whole history of love." (regarding his relationship with Josephine; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)
Glazed ceramic planter with calligraphy, potting soil Collection Fela Grunwald, Toronto Translation: "Ivy will cling to the first met tree, that is the whole history of love." (regarding his relationship with Josephine; from the memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte)