Giving Life to the Community
Artists
Dominique Bayart:
Born in Paris, Dominique Bayart came to San Francisco in 1975, where she still lives. In 1979 she obtained a Master's degree in World and Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University. She has worked in the arts for over twenty years, beginning as an airbrush artist working on T-shirts. She founded a successful screen-printing company, DB2002, which specialized in architectural and promotional graphics for major department stores, the Academy of Sciences, architects and designers. She co-founded Bayart and Rae Furniture in 1989, which developed limited edition contemporary furniture for residential and commercial environments. Characterized as "industrial chic" in Focus magazine (October 1993), each piece of furniture was created after a thorough research of material possibilities, form and function. Bayart and Rae was represented by Randolph and Hein, Agnes Bourne and Bradbury Collection, and did numerous commissions. In 1997 Dominique Bayart devoted full time to monotype printing and painting. Her art comes not from formal training, but from within, as influenced by her experience. Bayart's monoprint and oil works show a rich variety of style, but share subtle unifying characteristics. "My work comes from my life and my surroundings. Colors, ideas, shapes and images from my past and my dreams, as well as daily events and observations are the inspirations of my work." Bayart's pieces often start impulsively, and then are shaped to tell stories and depict emotions while retaining their original immediacy. Her strong understanding of color, developed during her years of experience in screen printing, shows itself in all her work. As Le Corbusier said: "Color is not made for decoration but to create space." In Bayart's work, blocks of colors translate imaginary borders between reality and dream, consciousness and unconsciousness, freedom and entrapment.
When we say HEART, we think about life and love: It is through the heart that we are physically connected to the world and emotionally connected to one another.
To convey that connection I asked people I encountered in the streets of San Francisco to write in their own languages the word "heart." I collected about 60 languages, which I then silk screened onto the heart as they were written in my book. Each person thus has their imprint on the heart, making of the project a sort of happening. The words float on earth colors, and a red line flows through them- the flow of life.
The experience itself turned out to be very enriching. I approached and spoke with many strangers, describing the project and asking them to contribute. Everyone was delighted at the idea and even more enthusiastic when I explained that it was part of a fundraising project for San Francisco General Hospital. These encounters led me to tea with shopkeepers, political exchanges with passers-by, visits and descriptions of the projects and classes offered by the African Historical society, contacts with the African American refugee center, and long talks with members of the Native American health center. None of those people knew about the project. Now they all want to see the heart with their own handwriting.
While collecting the translations and creating the heart, I felt positive energy and the joyful connection of the different cultures represented. I hope that the heart reflects a feeling of that experience and the spirit of the wonderful individuals who contributed to it.
Dominique Bayart is represented by PIECES gallery, 409 Healdsburg Avenue in Healdsburg, and by The Simmons Gallery , 565 Sutter Street in San Francisco.
Her studio is located at 2325 3rd Street, studio 207 in San Francisco (at 20th street)
