Between Relief and Depth: A love Eclipse
Exhibition Saint Denis Reunion Island, March 2000

The paintings

The artist, of whom it was said in 1997 that her works "reveal a perfect equilibrium between the different elements such as composition, colors and subjects tackled" (Magali Boisier -Echo-Vol.2 No 2, Mars 1997), will never cease to amaze us. First of all, there is a technical exploration that is pushed to a higher level, with a bold and successful comprehension, that marries carvings and drawings resulting in various and innovative textures. Once again, the artist's personality and originality emerge with force. There is also an outstanding command of colors, that we already knew she could deliver in a brilliant intensity, but today comes to us, rich, opulent and deep, accompanying her in the process of her interior resonance. Density meets complexity without excessive hardness. The first perception tickles the senses, and the taste for aesthetics gives place to the seduction and the fascination that are forced by the multidimensional figures. Beyond the cavalryman's majesty, or even the noble grace of the dancer, perhaps a shadow of the worry some "Baron Samedi*" of the nightmares of the creole child reemerges? Does not the superb diptych of purple women bring inexpressible emotions (perhaps those of the artists or of ours) that color and purify our liking? Marie Denise Douyon's art was recognized for the humanism of her message, the precision of her research and the quality of her visual techniques. Her last series does not allow any of these elements to be isolated. They blend together in one creative work, powerful and strong, deeply moving, authentic and coherent.

*Deity of the voodoo pantheon

Maryse Alcindor
March 2000