Irène Poetschke's second solo exhibition, "Escaping Chaos", took place from November 28 to December 4, 2024, at the Dohyang Lee gallery in the Marais in Paris 3rd.

This exhibition highlighted a personal evolution marked by a journey towards inner peace "...like a positive evolution illustrating a change in myself, my life, my soul."

 Why "Escaping Chaos"?

 Irène had long sought refuge in chaos, unable to thrive in a linear existence. Her "Checkerboard" series, presented at the "Checkers" exhibition in 2023, evokes this period of confinement and violence, a reflection of her inner struggles. However, a transformation had begun: "A door appeared and, little by little, the walls lowered to reveal a deep blue."

This is how this new series "Escaping Chaos" came to be, symbolizing this path towards freedom. As the paintings unfold, the checkerboard fades and the blood disappears in favor of a red thread that connects the elements, while the character heads towards the unknown, towards the exit or the void. "This exit is not obvious, the ground gives way beneath their feet...", a sort of parallel with what the painter lives and feels.

Irène and her imaginary being then turn towards a simpler and more peaceful universe, with nature as an anchor. Each painting reflects an action, an emotion, a moment, of this quest for stability, like a new message of hope, "... even if bonds or traces persist, liberation is life-saving."

An immersive journey full of surprises

The exhibition included about twenty works, mainly oil paintings, arranged on two levels with an immersive scenography plunging visitors into the artist's unique universe. On most of the canvases, painted clay covered with resin is added, a true trademark of the painter that amplifies the relief already expressed by the omnipresent perspectives.

Thus, in the first room, were exhibited 10 oil paintings from the most recent series, the series where ultramarine blue dominates, itself titled "Escaping Chaos". From the 80x60 cm format of "Peace" which fixes us in the eyes to the large 100x150 cm diptychs connected or not by clay like "Protection" or "Discovery", the relief of "The Search" to the hands supporting two clay figurines of "Balance", the impression was luminous and full of emotion in this very specific surrealist universe. The intensity of the sensations was increased by the multitude of symbols scattered on each canvas that everyone tried to decipher in their own way, with the help of the 10 poetic texts next to each work. A large 2-meter leafless tree reminding us of the one in the paintings, a mirror echoing the one in the painting "Hope" also surrounded by pieces of another broken mirror, petals scattered around "Mourning(s)" recalling those in the work, as well as a giant hourglass filled with sand swallowing on one side a black character and on the other a clay tree, and 3 suspended platforms each welcoming a clay figurine (a seated woman, the black character, the tree = the 3 recurring symbols of the exhibition) added even more to the immersion in this symbolic world originating from the artist's unconscious.

Then we accessed a second vaulted room by going down a steep staircase and there, we entered another world, that of "the before", before escaping chaos, like a reminder of the previous exhibition "Checkers": we came directly upon a bathtub filled with "blood" placed on a checkerboard floor, already present at the first exhibition but which was revisited with sprouting tentacles and foam floating on the "blood", surrounded by 2 unpublished paintings "New Cohesion" and "Intimate Depth" with its clay tentacles on the canvas. Then turning around, we were grabbed by the outstretched fist of the immense 158x158 cm canvas "Between 4 Walls" located at the other end of the room occupying all the space. Meanwhile, we could catch a glimpse in a "magic box" including a mini mosaic bathroom, and rummage through the green-dominated paintings reminding us of the artist's previous period, the more tormented one where checkerboard, blood and confinement were omnipresent. With again the painting "Daily Struggle" with the clay burger.

Then we could access a final space where a commone canvas was made available so that everyone could express their emotions on it.

The interest then was to go back up to the ground floor room where the blue evoking sky, ocean, the void or infinity, allowed us to breathe again after the confinement of the basement. And there, a second tour of the paintings allowed us to rediscover even more meanings, adding to the power of this new series.

 Thus, during this exhibition, the artist invited us to think : "Do we really escape chaos or is it a kind of incessant cycle?" Irène Poetschke reminded us that even in the darkest moments, "life always teaches you something and guides you towards your true path."

In total, more than 350 people came to discover the works and the scenography of the exhibition "Escaping Chaos", with about 150 people present at the opening. The depth of the paintings, the original universe and the inimitable "signature" of the artist deeply touched the public.