Genesis
Genesis. Genesis. γένεσις.
LEBADANG, “Genesis”, circa 1960. Indian ink on paper, private collection, Paris, France.
World in perpetual evolution.
Morphological transformation. Transmutation. Expansion.
Body ever-becoming.
LEBADANG, “Genesis_19”, circa 1960. Indian ink on paper, 16.8 x 16.3 cm, private collection, Paris, France.
This set of 46 drawings made in Indian ink in the 1960s represents the evolution of the species according to Lebadang.
We start from the protozoan form. It is followed by suspended amoebae, ordered like a Mendeleyev periodic table recalling certain “mental landscapes” by Henri Michaux or the “musical scores” by Pierrette Bloch which sublimates the contrast between black and white.
This evolution is neither linear nor progressive. It moves from the embryonic state of the first semi-animal and semi-organic forms towards more elaborate forms and, at times, returns to the molecular world or to earlier stages. Some drawings show animal metamorphoses as if there had been a shift from animal to human. A hybridization of bodies.
This organic “phylogeny” which passes through dance and movement — swirls of shapeless matter crossed by strong winds or shakings ; bacchanals, an orgiastic space where bodies mingle and burst — marks the different stages of procreation or sexuality.
The drawings of “Genesis” prefigure “The Human Comedy” (1981) in reference to the eponymous work of Honoré de Balzac, which represents the human condition according to Lebadang.
From genesis to human.
Luc HO – 31 October 2017
