1923-1998,
France
André Borderie is a French painter, sculptor and ceramist. He does not restrict himself to one material. He places the human dimension at the center of his practice: his relationship to objects and space is the key of his arts. He is an inventive artist emerging with the birth of abstraction in the 1950s.
Born in Gironde, he first worked as an assistant inspector for telecommunications sector (called P.T.T. in France). During a work trip in Vienna, his entire life was turning into the artistic field. While he was already considering switching his career to painting after poster artist Paul Colin’s (1892-1985) advices, he got closer to the artistic milieu: he met the Hungarian artist couple Pierre (1923-2001) and Véra (1919-1994) Szekely as well as his future wife, Maria Gautier (born in 1923). Leaving his first career in 1948, he finally started to work in art. The newly form group of these four settled in Bures-sur-Yvette (France) and started to work together for almost ten years. They signed paintings, ceramics, furniture and large projects until 1957 as the church of Saint-Nicolas de Fossé in Ardenne (1954) or the swimming pool of Saint-Marcellin (1957-1958). The Bateau Ivre was the high point of their collaboration : this is a residence built in collaboration with the architect Louis Babinet, as a condensed mark of their common production, primordial in the history of art.
In 1957, André and Maria Borderie moved to Senlis. The late 1950s marked his artistic territory development.
He first participated in the revival of tapestry, following Jean Lurçat (1892-1966) path. He worked with the prestigious factories of Aubusson and Gobelins and he received National Prize of the French Tapestry.
He joined the Espace group, founded by André Bloc (1896-1966) and Félix Del Marle (1889-1952), convinced that art has a leading role in the city. In the 1970s, he created monumental pieces in the urban space with plenty materials.
André Borderie also worked with ceramics throughout his career: this material allowed him to express all his concerns about space and daily life. He never tried to be a “real ceramist”, however it’s clear that his abstract lyricism language fits perfectly with this material: he used “chamotte” clay, he refuses geometric perfection and he prefers the poetry of simple forms. He thus follows the words of his wife Maria who said “a square is a worried circle”. He played as much on the diversity of textures as on the richness of colors: he excels as well in the shining effects as in the matte ones, the roughness as in the cracks and his finishes come from deep reds to bluish greys. Engraved or naked, his objects are always moving.
André Borderie’s works appear with all their mastered timelessness and fluid creativity: far from restricting himself to a single material, he is a maestro with all of them. His ceramics are very personal, slightly emotional: they are the perfect witnesses of his unique know-how and the supports of his love of everyday life, shapes, materials and colors.
