What to create after 100 years of abstraction in painting?
From the beginning of the 20th century, the abstraction movement set out to develop a new language, to create its own rules and explore new sources of inspiration. By moving away from the representation of reality in the strict sense of the term, the focus shifted to the individual's relationship with the world. These reflections led, among other things, to Surrealism, which transformed the unconscious into fertile creative ground for artists. Although prolific, this approach did not satisfy the abstract painter who instead sought salvation with a more direct relationship with his canvas (with rare exceptions). The gesture became immediate, almost implacable in its application. The subject shifted from "what to represent" to "how to represent". Many other aspects were explored, such as the study of geometry, the infinite potential of forms, the variability of media and the power of repetition. But let's return to our initial question and the renewal of the abstract form. What aspect should we work on to revive the abstract expression? I propose to look at the question of narrative within an artwork. This question of narrative is the central focus of the "Interlaced Landscapes" series. The notion of landscape refers here to an abstract space that only shares with its figurative counterpart the notions of gravity (sense of looking), aesthetics of imbalance (positioning, size of forms) and kinetics (idea of movement). The production of an artwork within the series follows three main stages: composition, decomposition, recomposition. Before cutting, each canvas is an abstract landscape/space with its own identity (composition). This space is then decomposed, cut into strips of random size (decomposition). Finally, each canvas is recomposed or assembled using the lateral/horizontal strips from one or more cut-out canvases (recomposition). During the recomposition operation, the strips are sometimes arranged in the same order as before they were cut, sometimes laid down randomly, often reunited by the hand of the painter delivering his narrative. As an additional aspect, the spaces between the strips are seen as breathing spaces, like the "white space" in music, where our brain fills the "void" by proposing a narrative of its own to the viewer.
[Ongoing exhibition > February / April 2024] – Galerie 12, rue des Beaux-Arts | Paris, France