Variations in black

 

In 1952 the Museum of Modern Art acquired a painting from Pierre Soulages then thirty three years old. Better known in the United States in the fifties and sixties, Pierre Soulages is famous in France where in 2014 a museum dedicated to his work was opened in Rodez, his hometown. He was also commissioned for the glass windows of the nearby Romanesque church of Sainte-Foy in Conques. He coined the term "outrenoir" (beyond black) to define his practice and is known as the painter of black and light. “Soulages, another light”, the title of the latest exhibition at Musée du Luxembourg is followed by a subtitle "Paintings on paper" which reveals the content of the show dedicated to a less known side of Soulages's career. The artist recalls that as a young boy he drew trees in the winter and painted the snow black. He adopted abstraction early on and never wavered in his quest for the light reflected by the color black. He passed in 2022 at the age of one hundred and two. He is survived by his wife and life-long companion, Colette, who was involved in the selection of the one hundred and thirty paintings on paper among more than eight hundred, representing the production of the artist from the forties until the early two thousands when he abandoned paper and media like walnut stain, charcoal, India ink or gouache for the exclusive use of acrylic resins on canvas. The chronological retrospective fills the entire space of the museum with works on paper and includes two videos featuring interviews with the artist. 

In the early forties while still a student the young artist inspired by Old Masters like Le Lorrain, Rembrandt, adopted figurative and sfumato techniques as seen in two drawings of portraits laid behind a glass casing at the entrance. Giving up art school in Paris, back home, he experimented with walnut stain and carpenter's tools readily available in his surroundings. Without transition it seems, he adopted abstraction to paint spontaneous ideograms on paper, bringing into play the nuances and transparency of the dark brown to golden walnut stain. A line up of his charcoal and walnut stain paintings represent his production in the forties, as recognition came early for the artist. In post-war Germany, he was not only invited to participate to a yearlong travelling exhibition (1948-1949) with ten other abstract French painters, but also one of his work was selected for the exhibition's poster. His name appears on a number of these, advertising solo or group exhibitions, proof of his growing fame in France. The next room dedicated to works from the fifties feels confined. The walnut stain takes a darker tone and veers to black with thicker intersecting lines mainly straight sometimes angular and even forming swirls, filling the entire pieces of paper. An inner serenity oozes from the paintings evoking Far Eastern  calligraphy. The following works from the sixties are of bigger size and feature large expanses of China ink contrasting with the white paper, black made alive by variations in thickness and fluidity. Abstract expressionism comes to mind. In 1957, although already shown in the United States, Soulages made his first trip to New York City where the movement was flourishing. There he met a number of artists, among them Robert Motherwell. In other paintings, the artist favored the wash technique for his subtle pale blues or light greys transpiring through the black geometric designs. Back and forth from paper to canvas, in 1977 he experimented with color in large-scale gouaches on paper represented by four loud blue paintings displayed side by side. We can follow his attempts at thick black "zips", linear ragged lines with ink, or scribbles with graphite. His return to the organic walnut stain in the late nineties and early thousands produces a series of quiet primordial landscapes made of earth colored strata interrupted by bands of light projected by the white paper, evoking the harsh land of his youth, his everlasting source of inspiration.

In a video of his interview with the journalist Pierre Dumayer in 1969, Soulages professes his natural passion for painting, a calling he describes as a necessity. A second interview with the art historian  Pierre Encrevré relates how he discovered inadvertently the light in the color black after a day of hard work, followed by a nap. 

Tachism, abstract expressionism, geometric abstraction, ..., Soulages never did fit in a movement, pursuing his own path. The exhibition underlines the artist's decade-long experimentations through his paintings on paper for sixty years (1940's until 2000's). Even glued to a support, paper limited the size of the works, often somber behind the glass, smothered by their frames. The artist shared his thoughts: "I always liked paintings to be walls rather than windows. When we see a painting on a wall, it's a window, so I often put my paintings in the middle of the space to make a wall. A window looks outside, but a painting should do the opposite—it should look inside of us". This statement gives a clue to his radical move away from paper to thick layers of acrylic resins on large canvases sometimes hanging from the ceiling which allowed him to sculpt the paint and find the light. The retrospective at Centre Pompidou in 2009 revealed the achievement of the then ninety-year old artist. Immersed in the "Ultrablacks", under the spell, the visitor  (I was one of them) could appreciate the culmination of his lifetime's quest. 

 According to the artist, his works on paper were not preparatory studies for his larger paintings but were part of a practice evolving on its own. We can discover his early use of the walnut stain, a media he mastered. From black to brown to golden, from a transparence found in watercolors to a darkness in charcoal, the organic stain is alive, lustrous and radiates a luminosity worthy of Old Masters like Le Lorrain through an abstract language. The spontaneity of the gesture animates the untitled works. They do not need a story or a context: they are. 

 

        

photographs by the author:

-walnut stain on paper, 1950

walnut stain and oil on paper, 1947

-ink on paper, 1961

-walnut stain on paper, 2003

-gouache and China ink on paper, 1951

Dali, Thirty Years Later

A few weeks have passed since my visit at the Centre Pompidou in Paris to see the exhibition Dalí, a short title for a major retrospective: one hundred and twenty paintings, sculptures, videos, drawings, surrealist objects, even a kitschy Mae West installation where people can take photographs of themselves. I was in the crowd thirty years ago for the exhibition Salvador Dalí: Retrospective 1920-1980 and the artist was present. Dali would love it, the crowd is at the rendez-vous, the interest for his work does not abate.

I calculated a minimum of  ten minutes per painting, twenty hours...! The works are organized into seven sections: "The Ultralocal and the Universal", "From the Residencia de estudiantes to the Paths of Surrealism", "Surrealism and the Paranoiac-Critical Method", "Myths and History", "Theatricality", "Science, Mysticism and Theory", "Self-Reference and Great Machines". I chose my own path along the cubist, then surrealist paintings on each side of the large space occupied by glass cases full of surrealist objects, prints, drawings in the middle. There is a feeling of exhilaration when looking at the "real thing" like The Persistance of Memory, 1931, The Temptation of St Anthony, 1946, William Tell, 1940 or The Great Masturbator 1929. What I find most interesting is to discover less known paintings, some loaned by the Dali Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Florida. A flavor of  de Chirico, Miró, Tanguy... Dalí has been accused of plagiarism, ultimately he is Surrealism (as he claimed) and this is my preferred period.
An area was dedicated to the works inspired by Millet's Angelus, including Dalí's Angelus, 1932, The Architectural Angelus of Millet, 1933 , Gala's Angelus, 1935 .The original  work from Jean-François Millet lost in a corner appeared small compared to the giant, brightly colored spawns from Dalí.
Few sculptures were displayed, the Venus de Milo with Drawers, 1936/1964 was among them. To find more sculptures, a trip to Espace Dali in Montmartre is in order.
To accommodate the flow of visitors the space was left opened with no partitions between sections, only posters at strategic points and no area to rest for the tired visitor. Young children looking at the paintings with fresh eyes were asking a lot of questions...
The videos were a reminder of Dali's involvement with the movie industry. Dalí has been chastised for his political views and the exhibition brought up the subject with paintings like Partial Hallucinations.Six Images of Lenin on a Grand Piano, 1931, or Spain, 1938, Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War, 1936, Hitler masturbating, etc... His interest in science and also religion was also approached but the presentation of this later period was superficial and could not match the exhaustive exhibition "Dali the Late Work" which took place at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta in 2010, including his works  with a Pop art's flavor.
The exhibition started with several self-portraits,  Self-portrait with the Neck of Raphael, 1920-1921 showing a young Dalí, defiant, imitating Old Masters like Leonardo da Vinci for his landscapes and a Cubist Self-Portrait 1923. His Self-Portrait 1972, closes the exhibition. The long neck from Raphael is still present, the photomontage of  "Mao Marylin" created by Philippe Halsman updates his image with new icons.

Preoccupied with universal themes, death, time, birth, love, sexuality, war, science, his works are timeless.  Dali has been criticized, praised, vilified, adored and each exhibition generates new books and new reviews. It sounds like cliché with a dalinian vocabulary: exhibitionism, Freudian, contradiction, provocation , eroticism, genius, madman, hallucinations, paranoiac, psychoanalytical...

Another memorable exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, another memorable retrospective of Dalí's work to fulfill one of his wishes: art accessible to everyone.

photographs by the author

"Venus and a Sailor", 1925
""Self-Portrait", 1940-41
"The Spectral Cow", 1928 

recommended reading: "Dali The Paintings" from Robert Descharnes- Gilles Neret  (Taschen)

"Chantiers", fifty works from Bertrand Lavier

"Things" become art because they are reinterpreted and the association of a stone on top of a refrigerator creates a new entity, this is called hybridization, one of the techniques used by the artist who has a background in horticulture, which explains his approach. The exhibition Bertrant Lavier, since 1969 at the Pompidou in Paris presents several "chantiers" illustrating different concepts developed by the artist over the years: addition, crossing, transposition, grafting, hybridization. A painted object like the grand piano now covered with a thick black coat brings emotions with its rough surface full of crevasses.
The leaf blower above the art deco chest leaves me perplex, the Giulietta, a damaged Alfa Romeo in the middle of the room  has a feel of deja vu,  Arman developed the idea in the past. The reinterpretation of Stella's work in neon is visually challenging. Maybe the small mobile from Calder above a refrigerator from the Calder brand is intended as a pun?  The cold, white, angular shaped freezer contrasts with the sensuous red lipped sofa from Dali and so on.

An interesting area includes a collection of objects mounted on pedestals, like sculptures in a museum. The skateboard, the motorcycle helmet, a saw become symbols and the shining African sculpture cast in nickel-plated bronze looses its status and becomes an object.

The curator of the exhibition makes the visit entertaining and informative with the works grouped into four themes: after the readymade: form and feeling, new impressions of Africa, the photo without camera, the art of transposition.
The Surrealists collected objects to stimulate creativity. The artist claims that his creations, sums of two objects are more than each object and he aims to bring  emotions to the readymade.
However the humorless work stays remote and dry.

photographs by the author:
"Burgundy Stone on refrigerator" 1989
"Ibo", 2008
"La Bocca/Bosch", 2005

Rootless artist?

A whole exhibition is dedicated to Gabriel Orozco at the Centre Pompidou, Galerie Sud. Finally, it is the occasion to view the work of an artist who, so far, as been difficult for me to understand. Orozco lives several months per year in Paris, but spends time also in New York City and Mexico City. Born in Mexico, he claims to be rootless , rejects the idea of regional or national identity and does not have a studio. He is known for his interactive works like "Ping Pond Table" (1998).

We are warned before entering to obey the orders given by the guards, two persons dressed in Mexican policemen uniforms, part of a performance called "Imported Guards" (2010). Is it supposed to be humoristic? The room appears dark and colorless (other than three to four paintings as above). I read again and again about the artist's statement, the transformation of the everyday object to make it reach a new artistic dimension. Duchamp? One step further?

The brochure describes also three lines: the floor, the market tables and the walls. I started to walk along the walls, and looked at photographs, drawings and paintings, without emotions, including in front of the photographs of the work called "My Hands Are My Heart" (1991), showing the hands of the artist molding clay to the shape of a heart in front of the torso of the artist, symbol-cliche.

On the tables, surrounded by a black line on the floor as described in the brochure, the viewer can look at a testimony to "ten year's sculptural experiment". I found that the residues of ten years of research were not that exciting: socks stuffed with papier mache looking like sad vegetables, ("Two Socks", 1995), a game of chess but skewed "Horses Running Endlessly" (1995), sculptures in terra-cotta evoking the relationship to the body, and constantly a guard in uniform warning the viewer not to cross the line. The visit becomes frustrating. Was this the goal? The visitor cannot interact with the works, they are staying out of reach. I thought "French Flies", (2010) was funny. Numerous flies flattened, each on a little piece of white clay, swatted by the artist last Summer when he was spending some time in the French countryside.

The third part, with the objects on the floor is definitely worse, maybe the objects are bigger: "La DS" of course is on display but the viewer cannot approach it. Then the objects succeed each other lying on the floor or hanging from the ceiling: shoebox (Empty Shoe Box, 1993), a running fan with toilet paper whirling around ("Toilet Ventilator", 1997), an elevator modified to fit the artist's body (Elevator, 1994), three arms in clay (Three Arms, 2005) , a torso (Torso, 2004) and more... all these objects modified by the artist to generate a new space and surprise the viewer.

The walls are transparent and I see the astonished passerbys taking a glimpse. I feel some relief upon leaving the Galerie Sud.

No photographs were allowed.

Photograph by the author made at the FIAC, "Trebol Time" (2005)

Tantrums, Accumulations, and more...New Realism

In Paris, the first visit on my list: Arman (1928-2005) at the Centre Pompidou. I was curious to see a restropective of the artist who made the news when I grew up. Would I find his works provocative? irrelevant?

The visit brought me along the artist's path, from his Allures, his Cachets in the 1950's and 60's to the last piece called The Day After, 1984. The exhibition was presented by themes and more or less chronological order. Poubelles, Coleres and Coupes, Accumulations, Art Industry. The object is shattered, recreated, accumulated and acquires a soul in the process, brings the emotion: repulsion in front of the Poubelles Organiques (Organic Garbages), horror when looking at the Accumulation of gas masks titled "Home Sweet Home", 1960, discomfort in front of the "Portrait-robot of Eliane", a morbid display of her personal belongings. The "Portrait-robot of Yves Klein" , his friend, is touching, a judo uniform, an old tie, a crumbled letter, a blue page, a leaf, like relics in the transparent square box. The works can bring a smile, "Kill them all and let God sort them out" an accumulation of insects sprays or serious thoughts, "The Massacre of the Innocents", an accumulation of broken dolls.

With his Tantrums or Rages, the artist destroys the object, and I still cannot understand why so many instruments inspired this violence: banjos, mandolines, violins, cellos, pianos, trumpets... I understand the broken televisions, tables, cars...

Along the works, great videos from the artist can be looked at, also a very special document, the manifest of the New Realism signed by Arman, Yves Klein, Restany and others.

The last section (1980's) shows Arman, painter again, using colors with the same rage. He throws the paint directly on the canvas, walks on it, smashes the tubes. Some of his late works appear fake, Arman becomes a caricature and like any artist repeating himself, his message becomes flat like in "Hello Jackson" 1990, "Starry Night", 1995 or "Desert Bike", 1991.

The exhibition finishes with one of his darker work: "The Day After" made in bronze, a remake of his Combustions from the 1970s: a show of the anguish caused by the destruction of a civilization represented by the object which represents us...is that it?

I highly recommend this exhibition, the curators have ensured that all the major works of the artist are included and presented in an interesting context.

Arman still surprises me. His message is relevant today. The headline news are about crowds burning cars in France, adolescents destroying the objects which define the daily world they resent and feel powerless to change.

photographs were not allowed

top photograph http://www.flickr.com/photos/workflo/5025224751/

bottom photograph from the author: "La Victoire de Salemotrice", 1967, Accumulation Renault

Soulages

During my recent trip to Paris, I went to Centre Pompidou to see the retrospective about Pierre Soulages, opened till March 8th 2010. The paintings were representing a period from 1946 till 2009.

This is an exhibition not to miss if visiting Paris.
(photographs were not allowed, the photograph on the left was made at the FIAC).

Going through the rooms, one can appreciate the artist's different periods. His uniqueness stays as a lasting impression.

Pierre Soulages is known to use the whole range of the color black and I never thought so much could be told with one color and it could become so many colors. (as opposed to Yves Klein who created one color, the "International Klein Blue").

The succession of paintings help us follow the path of the artist.
The first pieces are like an alphabet. He is experimenting. The paintings are flat, strokes of brushes. Then he develops volumes, depth. They become a whole language and send us messages.

Soulages works on the color black till it becomes alive, threatening at times and creates mystery. When using other colors, it is only to underline the color black and make it blacker.


On some of the later paintings, the surface of the canvass is covered with a thick coat of paint which is then sculptured with some tool, most likely a knife. The lines are simple, but the black becomes the light it reflects.

The space is well used and even with the crowd going by, one can sit in the middle of the room and enjoy this very special moment when the viewer can feel totally immersed in the work.

One room is mysterious, like a place where a special event is taking place: the spectator is in the dark and the black painting is shining, light in the dark. This is when we understand the term "outre-noir" (beyond black) created by Soulages.

In the last rooms, black panels are hanging from ceiling to floor and I do not appreciate this period as much: the black is dull, the panels flat...too japanese.

The exhibition is well researched, showing the different periods of the painter. It is on the top floor of the Centre Pompidou, and the view is breathtaking, even when it rains.

This work is emotionally, intellectually, philosophically enlightening. There is before and after this exhibition.

A lot has been written about Soulages and his art, but I will quote him:
"C'est ce que je fais qui m'apprend ce que je cherche." ( "It is what I do which teaches me what I am looking for.")

"The reality of a work is the three way relationship it establishes between the thing that it is, the painter who made it and the viewer who sees it."

I felt privileged to be the viewer in this three way relationship.

Waiting for the FIAC

Today, I visited Soulages at "Centre Pompidou", I will need more time to talk about this visit. I convinced myself to visit the temporary exhibition called Elles@Pompidou.

Nikky de Saint-Phalle greeted us at the entrance of the exhibition, as pictured left.

I find it sexist to have a show of female artists only.
Most of works presented females and their sexuality. Very few works if any, brought up subjects like spirituality, politics, childbearing. The closest reference I found about motherhood was the work from Annette Messager. She knits covers for dead birds, and aligns the dead birds in little boxes. She also embalms some of them and wraps them like mommies. The artists explains that one time in Paris she walked on a dead bird, and following this experience, she started this work.

Cindy Sherman tries to make herself look ugly on a self-portrait. She makes us reflect about beauty and ugliness and confirms my previous thoughts: it is all in the heart.
The walk through this exhibit reinforced my dyslike for such presentation.

The view from "Centre Pompidou" is always great, rain or sun.

photograph from the author