Les Herbes Folles du Vieux Logis
This nostalgic tribute to Madagascar’s natural beauty borrows its title from a collection of poems by Malagasy diplomat and writer Maurice Ramarozaka (1931–2010). It is one of a series of roughly twenty pastel drawings and thirty textile paintings. The developmental process for the series unfolded over eight months, during which Andrianomearisoa collected various fibers and textiles, experimented with text, created preparatory drawings, and finally arranged and layered the different cut fabrics. The finished canvas carefully manipulates texture and color to produce a flowing surface that appears to ripple and shift like the long grasses that grow freely across the island’s verdant landscape. The rich, natural tones of the work are derived from the colors of stones, earth, and sky.
Andrianomearisoa has been engaged with diverse artistic circles since the early 1990s, drawing inspiration from musicians, fashion designers, and textile artists. After his move to Paris, he graduated from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in 2003. His practice, beginning with fragile paper creations, embraces a mixed-media approach ranging from sculpture and craft to textiles and installation. He has exhibited at leading fine arts institutions, including the Studio Museum in Harlem and Paris’s Centre Pompidou, and in 2019 he became the first artist to represent Madagascar at the Venice Biennale. Consciously global in his approach, Andrianomearisoa moves between Paris and Antananarivo, where he cofounded Hakanto Contemporary, an independent nonprofit space for artists.
Andrianomearisoa has been engaged with diverse artistic circles since the early 1990s, drawing inspiration from musicians, fashion designers, and textile artists. After his move to Paris, he graduated from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in 2003. His practice, beginning with fragile paper creations, embraces a mixed-media approach ranging from sculpture and craft to textiles and installation. He has exhibited at leading fine arts institutions, including the Studio Museum in Harlem and Paris’s Centre Pompidou, and in 2019 he became the first artist to represent Madagascar at the Venice Biennale. Consciously global in his approach, Andrianomearisoa moves between Paris and Antananarivo, where he cofounded Hakanto Contemporary, an independent nonprofit space for artists.
Artwork Details
- Title: Les Herbes Folles du Vieux Logis
- Artist: Joël Andrianomearisoa (b. 1977, Antananarivo, Madagascar)
- Date: 2022
- Geography: Madagascar, Paris and Antananarivo
- Medium: Cotton, natural and synthetic fibers, dye
- Dimensions: H. 8 ft. 6 3/8 in. × W. 70 7/8 in. (260 × 180 cm)
- Classification: Textiles-Woven
- Credit Line: Gift of Hasnaine Yavarhoussen, 2024
- Object Number: 2024.415.1
- Rights and Reproduction: © Joël Andrianomearisoa
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing
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