JMB Fine Art
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About Joshua Briggs
I began my career with Sotheby’s Realty in Italy, selling properties across Tuscany, before opening popular contemporary galleries in London (P-inc Studios) and New York (Briggs Robinson). Having made a home with my family in NoHo and the West Village and built a property in the Hudson Valley, I rejoined Sotheby’s in 2013. I now divide my time between Rhinecliff and West Saugerties, with an office in Woodstock and close affiliations with agents across New York City and State. I specialize in land and property in the Hudson Valley, on both sides of the river.Raised in Bath, England and educated at RISD, I have always been fascinated with art, design and architecture. I began my career with Sotheby’s in Italy, selling properties across Tuscany, before opening a popular contemporary gallery in London (P-inc Studios). I moved to New York in 1998 to join Tony Shafrazi Gallery selling art and directing the gallery publications and catalogs. I opened a New York gallery of my own (Briggs Robinson) in 2002.I rejoined Sotheby’s in 2013 and now divide my time between New York City and West Saugerties.
362 ½ Warren Street felt an irresistible opportunity to have a gallery again, and I am happy and proud to present the work of Florence Vacher, an artist I have known and whose work I’ve admired for 25 years.
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About Florence Vacher
Florence Vacher makes meticulous and iconic figurative and abstract art in fabric and thread. Visually, her connection is mostly with artists of the past—often anonymous—and with the Cubists, including sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, who drew inspiration from them too.Born in France, she lives and works in New York City.InspirationFor aver 15 years Vacher has practiced her own art while working as curator for a private collector in New York. Specializing in ancient, African art, she is deeply versed in the history of objects, the cultures of different countries, and the richness of varied artistic expressions.A number of her subjects are inspired by photographs in European and American exhibition catalogs of ancient, often unattributed art. Struck initially by sculptural forms and the impact those will have once realized in two dimensions, she engages with the way objects are circulated in the art market - often detached from their original context, their cultural and historical significance diminished - and seeks to offer redress and tribute. In Vacher’s hands, the ancient images are re-illuminated and revived, so that whispers of their histories and cultures can reach and touch us here.Lately, Vacher has been drawn to creating more abstract pieces, allowing the magic of form to take center stage and inviting the viewer to observe and engage with the work on an emotional level. She also creates figures of massive character, including a very large piece, The Thinker, for her 2012 show at Tambaran Gallery in New York. Its inspiration came from a commemorative figure from the Bangwa chiefdom, Bamileke peoples, Cameroon, which strongly reminded her of Rodin’s Thinker and struck her with its dignity and presence.She sought other ancient works which might resonate with The Thinker, and fell in love with a Neolithic male figurine housed in the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest. Due to its contemplative posture, it was The Philosopher she wanted to work on. She later learned that it had been discovered alongside a female sculpture, and she decided to work around this timeless, universal couple—powerful and filled with divine wisdom. (The couple can be seen in the Carriage House behind the gallery.)ProcessWhen Vacher was young, she watched her mother making patterns for skirts and tops; the sewing machine was usually on the dining room table. A large cupboard was devoted to boxes of buttons, collections of Calais lace (her mother was from that region), threads, and assorted scraps of fabric—a real treasure trove. The artist and her mother often went to the Marché Saint-Pierre near their home in Paris to look for fabrics.Today, Vacher mainly sources in the fabric district around W37th Street, NYC. She enjoys wandering through the large store Mood, waiting for the fabric to call to her.Discovering a fabric in the fabric district is still a decisive moment that can spark a new project for Vacher. Over time, she has accumulated a large collection of fabrics, and she even keeps the tiniest fragments. You can see her favorite fabric in several of her recent works on show here:)The choice of embroidery threads comes only once the fabrics are assembled - different colors emphasize movement, create contrast, and highlight shadows.She rarely uses the sewing machine—not only she says because she hasn’t mastered it well, but also because sometimes she wants the seams to be invisible.Each stitch is a deliberate and intense act connecting her deeply with her craft.
Vacher loves the feeling of the needle piercing the fabric. Sometimes it’s a struggle, especially when she is working through thick paper—she speaks of really a physical, almost intimate engagement with the different materials.As she meticulously works on her pieces, Vacher describes entering a state of meditation, where time seems to slow down and expand. This contemplative approach infuses the work with a sense of tranquility and mindfulness, evident in the intricate details and subtle nuances of the creations. It stands as a powerful assertion of individuality and a gentle defiance against the relentless march of time, while also questioning the timelessness of the source photographs that inspire her.ImpactWith these large embroideries and oversized forms, Vacher reactivates ancient objects through a symphony of colors and shapes that resonate with joy and vitality, comfort and wit.In Vacher's world, the past and the present converge seamlessly, each informing the other, so that the resonance and connections between objects come to light.With this show, she invites viewers to embark on a journey of discovery—one where the past is not relegated to memory.
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Biography
Florence Vacher is a Brooklyn-based self-taught artist specializing in large-scale figurative textile work. She began her current series following a transformative trip to Mexico in 2011. This expedition ignited within her a profound desire to breathe new life into objects from bygone eras by changing their scale and representing them in fabric and thread. Using carefully selected fabrics, which she layers and arranges like paint on a canvas, she is able to explore new dimensions of texture, color, and form. Vacher, who hails from France, developed an expertise in arts from Africa working alongside collectors in Paris and later in New York, where she has lived since 1998. She has spent decades admiring and studying these objects and observing the ways in which artists, dealers, curators, and collectors have been approaching them since they were first “discovered” in the early 20th century.Recent and past exhibitions include Tambaran Gallery, New York, 2024; the French Consulate, New York, 2022; Domus Art Gallery, Athens, Greece, 2022, Galerie Chevalier & Parsua, Paris, France, 2016; Tambaran Gallery, New York, 2012; Twenty first Gallery, New York, 2012xt
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