Louis De Verdal (b. 1948) Fish Sculpture In Wood And Metal

Louis de Verdal's sculpture of a stylized fish, made of carved wood and worked metal. The artist combines the expressive force of an organic form with a more graphic, almost fantastical vocabulary, in a highly personal style.The central wooden section is particularly interesting: it originates from a branch whose natural movement clearly guided the start of the sculpture. The artist builds on this initial curve to construct the overall line of the fish, preserving the tension, momentum and dynamics of the original wood. The head, fins and tail, treated in metal, extend and emphasize this form with a highly successful contrast of materials. The dialogue between the dark wood, with its visible veining, and the patinated metal lends the whole a singular expression, at once raw, poetic and decorative.The work rests on a metal stem and base. The sculpture rotates on its axis, multiplying the points of view and further enlivening the composition.a decorative work of great presence, typical of a sensitive research into sculpture, matter and movement.