NEW YORK, 2025-06-20 22:01:00
Emmanuel Louisnord Desir’s “Let My People go,” a recent exhibition at 47 Canal, presented a striking interplay between the human form and the machine, examining themes of labor, spirituality, and societal roles. The exhibit, closing recently, offered a commentary on contemporary society.
Machines, Metaphors, and the Human Condition
Desir repurposes industrial remnants into thought-provoking bronze sculptures, exploring themes of purpose, oppression, and the potential for rebirth.
- Desir’s art merges industrial materials with handcrafted bronze, creating layered meditations on human invention.
- The sculptures explore the dichotomy between assigned societal roles and individual spiritual purpose.
- The exhibition’s title references the biblical call for liberation, connecting to themes of freedom and destiny.
What is the core concept behind Emmanuel Louisnord Desir’s “Let My people Go” exhibition? At its core, the exhibition, recently closed at 47 Canal, uses the juxtaposition of human and machine to explore the tensions between labor, spirituality, and individual purpose.
The artist, Emmanuel Louisnord Desir,delves into the tension between flesh and spirit,human and machine,and the interplay of labor and creative drive. Desir’s work draws inspiration from biblical references and symbolism to explore the human condition in the modern world, reflecting on current events in California and nationwide.
In the exhibition, Desir orchestrated a complex interplay of human forms and machines. metal parts salvaged from vehicles and machinery are transformed into bronze creations. Desir explained that he is intrigued by the material’s change through bronze casting: “I like the different processes and the different ways the material changes-starting with wax carvings and lost-wax techniques,then moving to the pouring stage,welding,and finally turning into something solid again.”
Merging Function and Form
Desir’s art skillfully blends manufactured components with handcrafted bronze. He merges the DIY aesthetic of racherquismo with refined craftsmanship. The works are layered meditations on the changing values assigned to human invention across roles and contexts.
Inspiration Behind the Art: Desir, influenced by his religious Black family and working-class communities, aims to capture the essence of individuals, exploring the tension between societal roles and spiritual growth.
The artist challenges conventional labor and societal roles, highlighting their conflict with the individual soul. This resonates with Marx’s theory of alienation, where laborers feel estranged from their work and spiritual essence.In Desir’s sculptures, the human body embodies this alienation, dramatizing how individuals are separated from their spiritual core through mechanized roles.
Desir, who grew up in a religious Black family, pays homage to working-class communities in America. “Thes works speak to the idea of purpose-what the purpose of an object or body might be,” he saeid. “I wanted to explore the tension between an assigned purpose, tied to one’s role in society and the need to survive, and a higher spiritual purpose, something connected to existential growth.” He reflects on the often unseen labor that sustains society.
Marxist Lens: Desir’s work can be interpreted through a Marxist lens, highlighting the alienation of labor and the separation of individuals from their spiritual core in a mechanized society.
This staging of machines considers how modern society defines each individual’s physical existence by functionality. Desir also gestures toward spiritual elevation. “I like thinking about the macro and micro scale, the cosmic level,” he said. “These could be seen as a collective, but when you look closer, each has its own internal happenings, its own orchestration that gives it a distinct identity. It’s like a uniform that’s been customized. I wanted to speak to each facet like a gem, to capture all its angles, in the hope of reaching the essence of these characters.”
Finding Purpose
The exhibition title, “Let My People Go,” originates from the Old Testament. Desir references this moment, invoking the idea of freedom and a deeper purpose assigned to each person. His work offers commentary on communities facing oppression. As protests erupt in Los Angeles against migrant deportations, the works gain new meaning, embodying resilience. They point to a spiritual resistance that asserts a different role against authoritarian powers to pursue true callings and fate.
Desir’s sculptures, comprised of industrial materials, reference machines, reassembled and interwoven with bronze casts. The exhibition reflects on both historical and contemporary struggles and resilience.
The Materiality of Transformation: Bronze Casting and Beyond
Beyond the thematic exploration of labour and spirituality, Desir’s choice of materials and techniques further enriches the exhibition’s core concept. The transformation of industrial remnants through bronze casting is not merely aesthetic. According to Desir, it’s a critical element in the narrative, embodying a cycle of deconstruction and rebirth. “I like the different processes and the different ways the material changes,” he notes, “starting with wax carvings and lost-wax techniques, then moving to the pouring stage, welding, and finally turning into something solid again.” This process reflects the very themes of his work: the stripping away of an object’s original purpose, its melting down, and the re-emergence into something new, imbued with a different, often spiritual, meaning. This aligns with the exhibition’s core premise of freedom and rediscovering purpose beyond assigned roles.
The employment of the lost-wax casting method, in particular, introduces an additional layer of meaning. This ancient technique, utilized for millennia to create intricate and detailed bronze works, reinforces the exhibition’s engagement with history and the enduring nature of the human condition. The meticulous process of creating a wax model, encasing it in a mold, and then pouring molten bronze in its place mirrors the artistic exploration of the soul breaking forth from societal constraints. The wax, representing a fleeting form, is sacrificed to make way for permanence, just as, in the artist’s view, the “assigned purpose” rooted in roles is challenged by the aspiration for a higher calling. The use of bronze, a durable and historically significant material, then ensures the survival of the new formation, signaling the possibility of transcending the limitations of current existence.
Moreover, the interplay between the raw, industrial components and the refined finish of the bronze underscores the inherent tension between the physical and the spiritual. The industrial materials, salvaged and frequently enough bearing the marks of their prior function, represent the tangible realities of labor and the mechanized world. The crafted bronze elements, conversely, introduce a degree of artistry, refinement, and the potential for spiritual elevation. This fusion suggests the possibility of transforming the harsh realities of modern life into objects of beauty, meaning, and contemplation. The metallic components serve to ground us,representing the material and the earthly,while the bronze casting acts as a bridge towards the transcendent and the possibility of finding a new purpose. This duality calls the viewer to contemplate if it is indeed possible to rise above our surroundings, or our roles, and find a deeper sense of purpose, as alluded to in the exhibition’s title.
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