AIR FORCE ONE
Baptiste Debombourg

Galerija10m2 Zagreb

The work “Air Force One” of the French artist Baptiste Debombourg is part of the group exhibition Armageddon named after the place of the Eschatological battle from John’s New Testament prophecy. The ominous event predicted there, the definitive battle between the forces of Good and Evil, does not only generate suspense, but also populates the artist’s imagination with contradictory images. It pushes him towards creating a contemporary pop version of the myth of the eternal hero, savior of the world.

The mythological character Icarus, the Mannerism of Italian painters and the symbol of sublime power – Air Force One, the airplane of the American President - seem to act as reference points in the present work. At first glance, this whole consisting of the concept inherent in the topic, the choice of visualization and the title builds up a complex synthesis, a hermeneutically constructed triplicity and a sense of fruitless outcome. Baptiste Debombourg, however, thinks that there is a linking element, and not only does it exist, but considered as a kind of anthopologism, seems perfectly logical. That is, the link between the ancient character (believing in his abilities and tempted by the possibility to reach the sun), the Boeing of the American President (symbol of the modern idea of strength and power) and the art style of Mannerism (expressing the rising of pathos and the intransigence as an aspect of human nature) that passes through them as a motive comes as a result of an idea of what the task of the super hero consists in. Due to his desire to give a contemporary pop outlook to his character – savior of humankind – the artist, on the one hand, departs from the interpretation of man as a “desiring machine” and, on the other hand, from the notion that “in his pride he ruins himself”. Maybe this is why the artist combines in his work the aggression of the tacker, i.e. the contemporary profanized utility as a tool, and the combination of pathos, beauty and unnatural movement of Italian Mannerists as a visual form concealing the aggression. Is it why his “Superman” flies straight down towards the earth?

Obviously, Baptiste Debombourg has charged conceptually his latest work with powerful pathos. But whether it comes from an intention of hidden sarcasm, or is it a product of pure sympathy? Surely, however, the synthesized result speaks of sincere compassion towards the real helplessness of human beings. And, actually, towards that steady self-conceit cultivated for centuries and nurtured sense of his own significance and dignity.

Nadia Timova, Sofia, January 2008