Second Prize at Inspired by PEM - Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools
Show dates: April 5 – May 17, 2025
A Wrinkle In Time - Banned Books Series
Oil on canvas - 24 x 36
by François-Xavier De Costerd
I was drawn to the deep colors and luminosity of this large scale painting in oil. The young girl, fully enveloped by the seemingly oversized chair, evokes both cosy childhood memories and an element of ambiguity with her obscured features.
The artist’s rendering in paint of the textiles –the upholstered chair and the girl’s embroidered or patterned shorts – is especially beautiful.
- Karina H. Corrigan
Associate Director–Collections and The H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum
Third Prize at Inspired by PEM - Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools
Show dates: April 5 – May 17, 2025
Forever With You - Stardust
Video - 5 min.
by François-Xavier De Costerd
I was enthralled by this enigmatic video work. Its subtle and trancelike soundtrack permeated through several of the gallery spaces in the exhibition, inviting me into the small space in which it was installed. Its changing geometries, bleeding color, and movement of images toward abstraction were captivating to watch.
Like the many new genres of painting introduced in Flanders during the 17 th century – most notably landscape painting – this is an innovative and expansive work.
- Karina H. Corrigan
Associate Director–Collections and The H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum
Best of Show at ALIVE
Show dates: March 1- March 29, 2025
Great Blunders Are Often Made, Like Large Rope, Of A Multitude Of Fibers
by François-Xavier De Costerd
Guest Juror Sarah Payson Hitchcock
“This piece spoke of travel. A journey through time, space, and discovery. To search.
The proportions work, with the weight toward the lower corner as in the human form and nature. Yes, it’s a map from above but the red winds as a river with black punctuating, resting until more discovery with the little squares and the control of the repetition of
the grid.”
Dark Waters
Soundscape Visions 2025 performances
Show dates: Feb 22 and Feb 25, 2025
Soundscape Visions returns with an immersive audio-visual experience. Featuring large-scale projections and stunning video art accompanied by original live music, this program will debut three new audio-visual compositions alongside two returning audience favorites.
About Soundscape Visions:
Soundscape Visions is a creative collective that merges the worlds of visual art with live music and video to create immersive experiences. Through live performances and innovative collaborations, Soundscape Visions invites audiences to engage with music and images in new and transformative ways.
Soundscape Visions :
François De Costerd - Video art, visual composition
Ara Sarkissian - Piano, music composition
Alex Vavilov - Viola, music composition
Best of Show at Impressions
Show Dates: August 3 – September 7, 2024
Farm Fields Grid
by Francois-Xavier De Costerd
Guest Juror Paul McMahan
"This aerial perspective expertly renders the juxtaposition of the flat land plane and the distant mountains. The atmospheric perspective accomplishes the sense of distance within the dynamic composition. The play of abstraction and realism competently illustrates this artist's impression."
Second Prize at Acceptance & Alienation
Show Dates: May 25 – June 22, 2024
"Brambles Bouquet" - Self Portrait December 10th 2020 by Francois DeCosterd
I was captivated by this piece because the graphics and colors are exceptionally strong. The elements complement each other very well and guide your eye throughout the image. The figure appears both static and electric, leaving you wondering what is happening. The words in the picture, "etat du ciel," translate to "state of the sky."
Patricia DiCarlo Baker
Third Prize at Inspired by PEM - Our Time on Earth
Show Dates: April 13 – May 18, 2024
“Rising Tide”
by Francois-Xavier De Costerd
The aerial perspective of this painting reminded us of the 2040–Sensible Zone installation by Territorial Agency in Our Time on Earth, which highlights the vulnerability of coastal regions and river deltas to rising sea levels and the increasing density of industrial, agricultural, and urban constructions in those sensitive environments.
The painting doesn’t depict development on the landscape directly, but instead invokes it through a figure in the upper right corner who is holding a gas pump spewing money.
- Trevor Smith & Jane Winchell, PEM Curators
Impressions
Work exhibited:
“Great Blunders Are Often Made, Like Large Rope, of a Multitude of Fibers”
Archival print (11 x 14) - 2024. $400.00
Impressions at Salem Arts
Reception: Friday, August 2, 2024, 6:00-8:00 PM
Exhibition Dates: August 3 – September 7, 2024
For this exhibition, we ask our member artists to consider the impressions you’re left with long after a thing has passed, to consider the impressions that we leave in our passing, and to bring those impressions to life.
Open Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Salem Arts Association Galleries, 159 Derby Street, Salem MA 01970