Complete catalogue of Le Paradis des Machines by Gabriel Lemaire Sicre. One hundred and sixty-three works born of industrial machines recovered in Graulhet, the former capital of leather, dismantled, cleaned, painted, and returned to a second life. Dimensions are given in centimetres (H x W x D).
A Pantheon
The pieces that set out the argument, a temple dedicated to machines raised to the rank of myths.
Pantheon
Boiler section and curtain rods topped with a gearbox · h : 320 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
Drakkar 2020
Glazing machine · h : 130 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 320 cm
Le Paradis des Machines and its Author
The works that accompany the artist's own account, computing left behind, colour, the music of Bach.
Samurai
Two Citroen 2CV engines stacked one on top of the other · h : 180 cm / w : 60 cm / d : 60 cm
Engine Running Like Clockwork
Citroen 2CV engine · h : 60 cm / w : 70 cm / d : 70 cm
The Feast
h : 120 cm / w : 90 cm
The Fire-Breathing Dragon
h : 122 cm / w : 250 cm
Globe
h : 92 cm / w : 92 cm
King
h : 120 cm / w : 90 cm
What do this painting I made in 2016, showing a King when it is hung vertically, and a musical score when it is turned on its side, have in common? Nothing at all. In both cases we see forces balancing one another harmoniously to bring another reality into being. Music is something you play.
Le Paradis des Machines and its History
The arrival in Graulhet in 2013, the empty Breilhac factory, and the first machine saved from the scrap dealer.
Sun
Central part of a leather framing machine · h : 180 cm / w : 180 cm
Le Paradis des Machines, Possible Readings
Five levels of reading proposed by the artist, play, transmission, the museum, metamorphosis, quintessence.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
h : 200 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 65 cm
« The sorcerer's apprentice makes wheat out of the earth he passes through his grain mill. The mill's brand is Le Criquet, the locust, which reminds us what pests we are and proves once again that reality outstrips fiction, because this particular model came to me spontaneously, without my looking for it. » The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Pulleys
h : 300 cm / w : 750 cm
Footballer
Gearbox · h : 70 cm / w : 70 cm / d : 70 cm
Madonna
Gearbox · h : 90 cm / w : 40 cm / d : 40 cm
Gearboxes are everywhere at Le Paradis des Machines, and in their new life they express the same function as before, they were and they remain organs of transmission.
Camera
h : 90 cm / w : 40 cm / d : 40 cm
A camera is a device for writing with light, except that this one works the other way round, as an emitter. A film camera whose shutter curtain I destroyed so as to place a lamp behind the lens. The projector camera.
Car
Power shears · h : 120 cm / w : 260 cm / d : 120 cm
At the outset, the manufacturer's drawing of the machine, late 1960s. On arrival, a little car that is happy to eat up the miles. Shear car, from a set of power shears.
The Joker, or The Harlequin
Gearbox · h : 90 cm / w : 50 cm / d : 50 cm
Elephant
Guillotine cutter · h : 190 cm / w : 220 cm / d : 100 cm
Angelica Saved by Roger
Gearbox, after Ingres · h : 110 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Women are free now, and powerful. Thanks to machines they have become the equals of men, because the strength of a machine allows heavy loads to be moved without difficulty.
Caduceus
Belt guides · h : 400 cm / w : 80 cm
The caduceus of messengers, the sign of Hermes, not to be confused with the caduceus of doctors or that of pharmacists. Made from belt guides.
Pac-Man
Press · h : 210 cm / w : 180 cm / d : 180 cm
Pac-Man was the first machine to join my collection. When I saw it, I had a revelation. The owner, who had scrapped it, asked me with wide eyes, « Do you really want it? » Pac-Man, a press. Weight, 20 tonnes.
The Origin of the Collection, Machines for Leather
The bedrock of the collection, glazing machines, presses, staking machines and die cutters from the leather works of Graulhet.
Glazing Machine
h : 220 cm / w : 260 cm / d : 65 cm
Self-evidence in the wild.
Another Model of Glazing Machine
h : 220 cm / w : 260 cm / d : 65 cm
Imp
Fur polishing machine · h : 130 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
Airman Ready for Take-off
Buffing machine · h : 125 cm / w : 190 cm / d : 125 cm
Drakkar
Glazing machine · h : 140 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 60 cm
The small wheels give the effect of ripples below the waterline.
Another Model of Ship
Glazing machine · h : 140 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 60 cm
Detail of the tongue, topped by a painter's roller from the glazing machine, with a horsehair brush underneath, so that the two sides of a hide could be treated differently.
Baby Dali
Press and die cutter · h : 200 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 130 cm
Baby Dali
Press and die cutter · h : 200 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 130 cm
Prehistoric Millipede-like Crocodile
Staking machine · h : 140 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 60 cm
With his little bone he is croc-cute.
The Gruff One
Harness maker's sewing machine · h : 120 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 60 cm
You give her a hard time, thread and all, and she does not like it.
Glazing Machine Taking Off
Glazing machine · h : 140 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 140 cm
Big Top Press
Press · h : 230 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 110 cm
A little theatre with a woman under the big top.
Woman
h : 280 cm / w : 360 cm
The three graces, with legs made from boiler heating elements and breasts from the rocker covers of refrigeration motors. One single switch lights all three at once.
Human Figures
The largest chapter, women, dancers, workers and human figures born of gearboxes, drills and sewing machines.
Woman Planter
Planter · h : 120 cm / w : 60 cm / d : 60 cm
Prima Ballerina with a Whirling Petticoat
Propeller · h : 120 cm / w : 90 cm / d : 60 cm
Castrating Woman
Crowbar and bolt cutter · h : 150 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Curvy Young Maiden, Low Mileage
Radiator grille of a Renault Juvaquatre · h : 160 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 65 cm
Woman Seamstress
Two sewing machines to make one seamstress · h : 160 cm / w : 50 cm / d : 70 cm
Greek Kore
Clamps used to hold photographic backdrop rolls in black, white and grey green · h : 30 cm / w : 30 cm / d : 30 cm
Elegant Cyclops
h : 500 cm / w : 500 cm
Atlas the Titan Carrying the Earth
Boiler section topped with a cogwheel · h : 230 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 25 cm
The Pianist's Groupie
Exhaust silencer on a cushion · h : 60 cm / w : 60 cm
Drill Woman with a Proud Bearing
Drill · h : 180 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 60 cm
Martian Woman
Exhaust manifold · h : 70 cm / w : 30 cm / d : 30 cm
Duchess
Turbine and ventilation duct topped with a handsome plant · h : 350 cm / w : 95 cm
Mother Pushing Her Baby
Plough set upright by the addition of a third leg, and a seed drill · h : 230 cm / w : 270 cm
Cream Separator in a Little Tulip Dress
h : 150 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Woman Accountant, Banker
Engine part · h : 50 cm / w : 15 cm
As soon as there is a clock in an office, it is almost always the accountant's.
Draped Woman, Vestal
Roller and blade from inside a fleshing machine · h : 230 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Woman Mannequin, Coat Stand
Belt tensioner · h : 200 cm / w : 90 cm / d : 65 cm
Sensual Woman
Moped exhaust silencer · h : 45 cm / w : 45 cm / d : 45 cm
Waitress
Drill · h : 180 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 80 cm
Before The Skier
Mortising machine · h : 220 cm / w : 200 cm / d : 65 cm
The little castors are many, and they call up the idea of gliding.
The Thinker of Graulhet
Blake type machine for stitching shoe soles · h : 180 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Becassine
Stamping press · h : 350 cm / w : 100 cm
The Gymnast
Compressor · h : 200 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 60 cm
Dancer in a Puffed Dress
Timber grapple · h : 140 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
Woman Juggler
Belt guides · h : 300 cm / w : 240 cm
Woman in a Crinoline Dress
Clutches · h : 240 cm / w : 185 cm
The Little Pedal
Sewing machine pedal · h : 35 cm / w : 40 cm
Women Footballers
Toilet cistern mechanisms · h : 30 cm / w : 15 cm / d : 15 cm
Dancer
Letterpress · h : 150 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 80 cm
The Well-Wound Clock
Comtoise longcase clock, the arms are piano console legs · h : 220 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 40 cm
Dancer
Band saw · h : 150 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
Traffic Officer
Sewing machine · h : 120 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Mexican
Lathe head on tanning drum legs · h : 240 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 130 cm
Engine King
Engine · h : 240 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 130 cm
A Little Soldier
Part of a machine that was of interest only in that one section · h : 230 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 10 cm
Mister Muscle, Supporter
Cooperage machine · h : 150 cm / w : 240 cm / d : 60 cm
He shows off his biceps and lifts a weightlifting bar.
The Living World
Animals, flowers and creatures, punching machines turned into elephants, turbines turned into sea creatures, radiators turned into palm groves.
Flowers
Rammer · h : 155 cm / w : 125 cm / d : 65 cm
Bull
Wood lathe · h : 130 cm / w : 220 cm / d : 90 cm
The horns are there to give a bluffing, beefy effect.
Hen
Punching machine · h : 110 cm / w : 70 cm / d : 30 cm
Pet
Shears · h : 60 cm / w : 50 cm / d : 15 cm
Little Pig
Reduction gear · h : 40 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
If you turn the pig's tail, his snout turns even faster to express his contentment.
Elephant
Punching machine · h : 230 cm / w : 200 cm / d : 60 cm
Elephant with a Propeller
Punching machine · h : 230 cm / w : 60 cm / d : 20 cm
A punching machine with a propeller, which has only just landed.
Flower
Runner of a Francis type hydroelectric turbine · h : 40 cm / w : 65 cm / d : 65 cm
Its original position, at the centre of the sea creature, the runner of a Francis type hydroelectric turbine.
Sea Creature
Francis type hydroelectric turbine · h : 230 cm / w : 130 cm / d : 80 cm
Orca
Turbine part · h : 80 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
Mickey's Head
Punching machine · h : 230 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 110 cm
With Mickey's ears.
Elephant
Tractor hitch · h : 170 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 110 cm
Little Dog
Notching machine · h : 45 cm / w : 25 cm / d : 15 cm
A little dog at play.
Little Animal
Electrical capacitor · h : 30 cm / w : 60 cm / d : 20 cm
Amphibian
Grinding wheel · h : 150 cm / w : 160 cm / d : 140 cm
Swordfish, or Bird
Plough frame · h : 160 cm / w : 140 cm / d : 60 cm
The Little Robin
Compressor · h : 18 cm / w : 25 cm
Jet-Propelled Octopus
Electric motor and reduction gear · h : 40 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 30 cm
A small toy that children can sit astride.
Little Pet
Lower part of a sewing machine · h : 25 cm / w : 50 cm / d : 15 cm
Anteater
Telma truck retarder · h : 70 cm / w : 70 cm / d : 70 cm
Telma.
Penguin
Mechanical reduction gear · h : 240 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 130 cm
When you turn the circle on its belly, the head turns the other way.
Bunch of Flowers
Heat exchanger · h : 180 cm / w : 50 cm
Palm Grove
Radiators · h : 45 cm / w : 25 cm / d : 15 cm
Little Animal
Punching and shearing machine · h : 70 cm / w : 90 cm
Crocodile Wearing Croc Clogs
It must have been a conveyor · h : 40 cm / w : 440 cm / d : 30 cm
Cro cro, the croc is a looker.
The Rhinoceros
Letterpress · h : 135 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 80 cm
Flop, the Little Sniffing Dog
Engine and gearbox of a Citroen 2CV · h : 70 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 80 cm
The Sheep
Leather dressing machine from Graulhet whose function I do not know · h : 100 cm / w : 130 cm / d : 60 cm
The Wasps' Nest
Cylinder head · h : 25 cm
Bunch of Chrysanthemums
h : 233 cm / w : 122 cm
A tribute to San Yu.
Bird
Sewing machine legs and a pulley · h : 120 cm / w : 160 cm
The Gods
Divine and cosmic figures, suns, angels, titans, a fridge god and a radio god.
Alpha and Omega
Tanning drum mount and drum cogwheel · h : 180 cm / w : 180 cm
The beginning and the end, the whole of it.
Titan
Citroen 2CV chassis · h : 320 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 20 cm
Aurtogyraphe
Radiator and cylinder head of a Citroen 2CV · h : 40 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 20 cm
« An aurtogyraphe is a verse with ten feet, whereas alexandrines have twelve. When your spelling is good, it is good for life. » Aurtogyraphe, a radiator and cylinder head from a Citroen 2CV.
Circuit Breakers
h : 120 cm / w : 60 cm
The gods have blown a fuse and are playing space invaders.
Smiling Radiator
h : 120 cm
Sun
Iroko duckboard · h : 170 cm
Angel
Iroko duckboard · h : 240 cm / w : 130 cm
Fridge
h : 170 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 110 cm
The computer feeds us and everyone believes in it. « Snap, crackle, pop, thanks for the grub, such is the prayer, bread and circuses and above all no thinking. Everybody loves it. » Fridge God. The head, an IBM screen from the 1980s. The body, a Liebherr refrigerator. Lord of Love.
Big Brother God
h : 370 cm / w : 90 cm / d : 90 cm
Radio God with his antennae, announcing heartbreaking news.
Radio God
h : 320 cm / w : 90 cm / d : 90 cm
Radio God with his antennae, announcing heartbreaking news.
Medieval God
Jack · h : 80 cm / w : 15 cm / d : 8 cm
Minotaur
Machine for hollowing out the inside of clogs · h : 180 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 80 cm
Very Powerful Goddess
h : 320 cm / w : 320 cm / d : 120 cm
« In this work, the three symbols of Zen Buddhism, the circle, the square in black, and the triangle. » Very Powerful Goddess, an Audi V6 engine and its automatic gearbox. Feet, a gear mounting from a Renault 21 diesel. Halo, a machine cogwheel. Triangular suns, car clutches.
The Venus Without Arms
Refrigerator motor and small turbine · h : 200 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 130 cm
Imperial Eagle, or Roman Eagle
Head from a lathe milling cutter, wings and feet from 1950s cinema seats, cogwheel · h : 125 cm / w : 125 cm
The Cherub
Cinema seat supports and a standard wall light fitting · h : 80 cm / w : 54 cm
Egyptian Eye
Belt guides · h : 30 cm / w : 120 cm
The Egyptian Gods
Cats, hieroglyphs, Aten and Wadjet, the Egyptian pantheon read again through mechanics.
The Egyptian Cat
Tractor cylinder head · h : 82 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 15 cm
The Piano-Leg Cat
h : 80 cm / w : 30 cm
Bucket Cat
Excavator bucket · h : 140 cm / w : 110 cm / d : 145 cm
Cat
h : 150 cm / w : 105 cm / d : 65 cm
A cat god of Egyptian inspiration.
Glazing Machine
Glazing machine, the Styx is made of tanning drum belt guides acting as waves · h : 400 cm / w : 600 cm / d : 80 cm
Stage five, an Egyptian funerary barque crossing the river of the dead, the Styx. Funerary barque, a glazing machine, the Styx being made of tanning drum belt guides acting as waves.
Weighing of the Souls
Glazing machine · h : 400 cm / w : 430 cm
The weighing of the souls.
Hieroglyphs
h : 200 cm / w : 200 cm / d : 90 cm
All matter comes from a force and exists only through it. We must presume, beneath that force, the existence of a conscious and intelligent Spirit. That Spirit is the matrix of all matter.
Aten
Disc from a circular saw · h : 360 cm
The Egyptian sun god, with hands that give life and take it back.
Wadjet
Shears and a cogwheel on a plywood panel · h : 200 cm / w : 122 cm / d : 15 cm
Sphinx Without Wings
Piano frame · h : 96 cm / w : 110 cm
Schmuckstuck
Schmuckstuck from a sewing machine · h : 50 cm / w : 75 cm
Schmuckstuck, in German, means a choice piece.
The Engines
Citroen 2CV and Volkswagen engines, crankshafts and gearboxes taken for themselves.
Museum Model
Engine · h : 120 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 80 cm
A model for a future museum.
The Big Boy
V10 engine · h : 190 cm / w : 100 cm
Lighthouse
Gearbox · h : 80 cm / w : 45 cm / d : 45 cm
A lighthouse lighting the ocean world, with a Breton butter biscuit on its belly.
Dancing Crankshaft
Crankshaft · h : 80 cm / w : 30 cm / d : 30 cm
Locomotive
Cylinder head · h : 25 cm / w : 60 cm / d : 20 cm
Rock and Roll Gearbox
Gearbox · h : 70 cm / w : 45 cm / d : 45 cm
V6 Raptor
V6 engine · h : 120 cm / w : 80 cm / d : 120 cm
Soldier from a Series of Eight
Engine, various views · h : 180 cm / w : 100 cm / d : 100 cm
The Laughing Cow
Part of an automatic gearbox · h : 45 cm / w : 45 cm
Lion Cub's Face
Gearbox · h : 80 cm / w : 80 cm
The face of a lion cub, inside the bell housing of a Renault 21 diesel gearbox.
Alarm Clock
Compressor · h : 200 cm / w : 45 cm / d : 100 cm
Little Engine Saying Hello
h : 45 cm / w : 25 cm / d : 30 cm
Hello there!
Musical Instruments
Music as a programme written in code on a score, a central subject for the artist, who is a pianist.
Hammer-Happy Piano
A little of everything · h : 180 cm / w : 50 cm
Machines to Make Beautiful Women Speak
Furniture and objects of everyday use, sink, table, sofa, armchair, wardrobe rail, cabinet, typewriter.
Sink
Fleshing machine · h : 130 cm / w : 220 cm / d : 130 cm
Table
Pulley · h : 80 cm / w : 175 cm / d : 150 cm
Two elements that once formed a pulley 150 cm across, and now serve as table legs.
Sofa
Fleshing machine · h : 140 cm / w : 220 cm / d : 120 cm
Armchair
Tanning drum · h : 160 cm / w : 180 cm / d : 110 cm
Wardrobe Rail
Measuring machine for the surface area of hides · h : 230 cm / w : 190 cm / d : 80 cm
Cabinet
EDF power transformer · h : 140 cm / w : 120 cm / d : 80 cm
Canopy Bed
Oil-fired boiler sections · h : 140 cm / w : 210 cm / d : 170 cm
A canopy bed, for a divine sleep, and with rose petals it can only be royal.
Shorthand Pirate
Stenotype machine · h : 60 cm / w : 60 cm
A pirate who goes easy on nothing, least of all his thumbwheels.
Toy Typewriter
h : 60 cm / w : 60 cm
A big smile and a first tooth.
Cubist Punching Machine
Punching machine · h : 200 cm / w : 130 cm / d : 90 cm
The Benoto
BENOTO CH12 loading shovel · h : 135 cm / w : 320 cm
You should never tell a woman she is as beautiful as a Benoto, or tongues will start to wag.
Paintings
Painting, at the origin of everything, projections on plywood and compositions on panels.
The Lover
h : 90 cm / w : 90 cm
Woman
h : 310 cm / w : 45 cm
Woman
h : 200 cm / w : 35 cm
Woman
h : 200 cm / w : 35 cm
The Woman I Love
h : 120 cm / w : 90 cm
Flowers
h : 100 cm / w : 80 cm
Child at Play
h : 150 cm / w : 70 cm
Dancer
h : 120 cm / w : 90 cm
Motherhood
h : 110 cm / w : 90 cm
Flowers are like women. Sometimes I start a painting meaning to make a bouquet, and in the end, by turning it upside down, it produces a woman.
Little Red Riding Hood
h : 110 cm / w : 45 cm
Hymn to Femininity
h : 200 cm / w : 35 cm