Ray Monde’s art focuses on physicality

As soon as you enter, right at the beginning of the exhibition, it is hard to miss: the impressive sculpture hanging from the ceiling that represents the Luxembourg country. If you look closely, you can see the red female figures without heads, the “Ecce Femina”. They decorate the entire work. Just below: a pedestal covered with a red carpet. This is overlooked with different shoes – like in a shop window.

“There is so much in shoes. Connected to this is the human foot, which appears again and again in my works. At the same time, there’s something fetishistic about the whole thing,” explains Ray Monde as she leads the way through the Schlassgoart gallery. “And then there’s the fact that many women collect shoes. “The installation is just a game of hints like that,” smiles the Luxembourg artist, who, as she admits, has an extensive shoe collection herself.

Ray Monde is currently celebrating her comeback in her home country. For several years it was rather quiet among artists in the Grand Duchy. Her last exhibition in this country was at the Nei Liicht Gallery in 2004. Ray Monde has lived abroad since the 1980s – in France and Switzerland.

She has been back in Luxembourg since 2022. With her exhibition “Ecce Femina – Back to the roots”, which can be seen at the Schlassgoart gallery in Esch/Alzette until May 4th, she provides insights into her overall work – and even shows works that have not yet been shown in any gallery were issued. An exhibition with meaningful and particularly aesthetic individual pieces.

New symbolism for the female body

Identity, humanity, femininity and masculinity always play a role in Ray Monde’s works. She understands identity as something fluid, something that is always in motion: “Every individual builds his or her own identity. It consists of different building blocks: How do you live? Where do you live? There are many things that influence identity.”

Movement is also a theme that she repeatedly addresses in her works – including paintings, photographs and sculptures. Therefore, as mentioned at the beginning, feet also play an important role in her work: they symbolize movement, but at the same time also anchoring. “Feet are the basis,” says Ray Monde.

It is therefore hardly surprising that the exhibition begins with drawn pictures of feet. The white background of the canvas seems to merge with the walls of the gallery, so that the feet particularly stand out.

Ray Monde likes to show herself in her photographs. “Long before selfies were even talked about, I took photos of myself and then created montages from them.” But how did this mix of different types of art actually come about?

“I have always drawn and painted a lot. My basis is also painting. I particularly often depicted the male body. Just as men have always portrayed women, as a woman I wanted to portray men. When I came to talk about women in my works, I looked for a new symbolism for women and the female body. I didn’t want to depict the woman in the typical vase shape and a large bust like in the archaic period. And that’s when I started photographing myself. And that’s how I got more into photography,” explains the Luxembourg artist.

This is how the “Ecce Femina” came into being, the red x-shaped female bodies, which also allude to the female chromosome. “Ecce Femina” is also based on Nietzsche’s “Ecce Homo”.

Lost look into the future

But there are other symbols and colors that appear again and again in Ray Monde’s work, such as a certain glyph that can also be seen on monotypes in the Schlassgoart gallery. Humanity and physicality play a significant role in the artists’ work, for example in the various portraits that adorn an entire wall in the Escher Gallery. Lost looks can be seen on their faces.

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“With everything going on in the world, you realize that people are simply lost – both younger and older generations. The world is fragmented,” says Ray Monde. A theme that is reflected in these portraits and an installation on the floor directly opposite. “Where do we go from here?” is written on the wall.

“Ecce Femina – Back to the roots” provides food for thought and inspires at the same time. An exhibition worth seeing and an impressive comeback from Ray Monde.