green island
M and W,
Where everything begins
Painting from life, while keeping time with my model, is a process of discovery. When my brain no longer imposes it’s false ideas and conjectures onto my perception, only then can I note down what my eyes are unconsciously able to see. However long it might take me, painting and repainting what I am looking at, the moment when I start to see clearly is always the turning point in the painting - the place where everything begins. This exhibition shows several paintings I have made and remade with a number of models over the last four years in my studio in Paris.
In the family of things, oil on canvas, 100 x 143 cm, 2020
sculpted portraits of children who live in the residence of St Eloi in Chilly Mazarin, France
I see you
So often we are uncertain if we are heard, if we are truly seen by one another. Working with models, with no camera or preconceived idea, is a way for me to see and acknowledge their presence. For the last twelve months, I have been working with a group of children connected with the “Intermèdes Robinson”, a community center in Chilly Mazarin. I sculpted, drew and painted them, and we played together with clay. In this exhibition, you will see several plaster portraits I made of these children. In some of my recent paintings, you will also catch a glimpse of the beautiful dancers from “Aven Savore”, a dance troupe associated with Intermèdes Robinson. Come see Aven Savore dance in the gallery on June 21 at 4 p.m. for the Fète de la Musique.
Open Rooms (two)
Portraits
For many years now, I have painted portraits of my friends in my space and in theirs. This recent painting is of my friend Bernard Hermann, the photographer and traveler. I painted it through the spring and fall of 2019 in Bernard’s apartment overlooking Notre Dame Cathedral, where he lives a life of solitude (un voyage en chambre) surrounded by beautiful objects he collected on his travels. During the exhibition (from June 21-23) we will be showing portraits of my literary friends, including Harriet Alida Lye, Elisabeth Barillé, Sylvain Tesson and Sylvia Whitman. Many of these friends will participate in a “causerie” and reading titled Where Everything Begins (Kilometre Zero) on June 22nd.
First do nothing, then rest!
KALE
Kit Brown and I are childhood friends who happen to also both have made our homes in Paris. Over the past few years, Kit has managed to resuscitate a few of my unfinished and abandoned paintings and drawings by transforming them into sublime, collaborative works of art. I will be showing some of these pieces in the exhibition. Kit and his friend Gil Soltz of the art collaborative Kale, will frequently be parking their bike gallery outside of the exhibit in order to share Kale with you. There will be a special Kale event on the 26th of June.
Le Sens Des Songes
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