The MAGNIN-A Gallery is pleased to present Traces of the Living, an exhibition bringing together, for the first time, the works of Emmanuel Awuni and Maceo Goy-Clairet, on view from June 11th to August 1st. By transforming what we think we know, these two artists reveal the invisible layers of reality and challenge our perception of the world.
For Maceo, this attentiveness to the world first emerged through the photo novel before expanding into sculpture and installation. Trained at the Arts Décoratifs, he draws from his immediate surroundings to shape his work. Following a solo exhibition at the Museum of Mineralogy in 2025, where he questioned the status of the mineral world, he extends this dialogue with nature by turning his attention to the forest. Tree bark becomes faces, subtly revealing figures of surveillance; branches are trapped within glass or wire mesh; bird wings bring shutter stops to life. Playing with scale and illusion, his sculptures destabilise familiar points of reference.
While the artist constantly explores and questions materiality as we know it, craftsmanship remains central to his practice.
Casting, silicone, and the assemblage of humble materials such as stones, bark, and feathers give rise to hybrid forms.
In doing so, he reflects on the passage of time and seeks to preserve the living within a form of permanence. Natural elements, once collected and cast, retain a latent vitality, as though suspended in time.
For Emmanuel Awuni, who was born in Ghana and moved to the UK, where he completed his master's at the Royal Academy schools; his attentiveness to reality takes the form of a slow immersion in his immediate environment. Rather than seeking to dominate what surrounds him, he attempts to attune himself to the flows that move through the world: the oral traditions of his childhood, the movement of rivers, the flight of birds, and natural rhythms. He momentarily steps away from the pace imposed by contemporary society in order to slow down, a slowing down he also asks of the viewer.
His painting demands time. It does not reveal itself immediately, but gradually unfolds through a meditative experience. Although his canvases may initially appear non-figurative, they slowly disclose silhouettes or fragments of landscapes to those willing to pause and truly look.
Deeply rooted in rhythm and orality, his work draws equally from present forms and childhood memories to construct a vibrant and timeless abstraction. Guided by instinctive gestures, Awuni seeks to translate musicality into painting. Every colour becomes a note, a pulse.
A nearly spiritual dimension runs through the works of both artists. The idea of healing emerges not explicitly, but as a process: that of renewing one’s relationship to oneself, to others, and to the world. Both artists reject direct narration in favour of open forms through which the viewer is invited to experience a story, one in which nature itself becomes the storyteller.
To observe the living world with precision, to capture the rhythm of water and the forms of nature in order to redirect and reinscribe them elsewhere: a metamorphosis takes place.
