French sculptor, born in 1947, died in 2015.
Life
Patrice Cadiou first trained in classical dance before becoming a sculptor. His meeting with the dealer Gérard Laubie marked a turning point: it opened the doors of Raymond Cordier, the Galerie Keller, the Galerie Ridel and the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris.
The collector Jean-Claude Volot, mayor of Auberive, assembled a group of his works and encouraged him to settle in the Haute-Marne; several of his sculptures are shown at the contemporary art centre of the Abbaye d’Auberive. In 2012 the gallery devoted the exhibition Talismanic Nights to him.
The work
Cadiou assembled materials found in the rubbish tips near his home: wood, leather, canvas, iron, brass, often with a black patina. His sculptures, which have been likened to Kongo nail fetishes, also include large carved doors.
“When one of my sculptures has not yet delivered its message, when it does not yet speak to me, I try to listen to it, to modify it so that it reveals its whole secret to me.” Patrice Cadiou, quoted in Esprit singulier : fonds de l’abbaye d’Auberive, Flammarion, 2016, p. 102.