Youri Cansell (Mantra), “Butterflies of Mexico: Board X”, 2024, acrylic on canvas; 60 x 60 x 1.77 in. Courtesy of the artist.
The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art features Mantra’s new exhibit “Lifespan”: art born in a moment and immortalized in time.
Born in Metz, France in 1987, Youri Cansell, internationally recognized as Mantra, is a consummate artist and naturalist. Mantra exhibits a special fascination with entomology- the world of insects. Drawing inspiration from his childhood garden in France and his adventures around the globe, he now creates exquisite paintings and murals, often featuring moths and butterflies. Mantra works to create organic relationships between his subjects and their environments. He frequently represents these creatures on large facades as if they were lifeless specimens showcased in an exhibition case- a poignant commentary on the alarming decline in biodiversity.
The image of the elusive butterfly suggests to us the briefest lifespan, but is it? Through scientific study we know that butterflies naturally enter states of hibernation, sometimes for several years, to prolong their own existence. Most of them migrate, thousands of miles like the Monarch, looking for a more favorable climate. Yet, in our coexistence, human beings impact those life cycles, threatening the butterfly’s survival to extinction.
In this context, this exhibition asks profound questions about the fragility of life, and explores what the butterfly’s ability to prolong time in the face of danger can teach us about our relationship with the natural world. By encapsulating the briefest moment in time, the butterfly becomes simultaneously a field study and an artwork – life as it happens, yet also immortalized for wonder and contemplation.
“Inspired by a lifelong curiosity about the living and a quest to observe the full reality of natural moments, my art is deeply personal and contemplative. I do not seek to give people an interpretation or a representative concept to wrestle with – rather to enter the moment with me and have their own experience. As a painter, I am crystallizing my scientist’s observations in the field into art. The artistic expression exists to ask how we preserve these fleeting moments in an urban, post-industrial setting, and how they question our notion of time.” –Youri Cansell
This exhibition was curated by Justkids LLC. It will be open from September 20, 2024-March 2, 2025.
