November 28, 2015–January 23, 2016
Opening: November 28, 2015, 5–8pm
Praz-Delavallade
5, rue des Haudriettes
75003 Paris
With Pierre Ardouvin, Robert Barry, Lisa Beck, Oliver Beer, Florian Bézu, Ulla von Brandenburg, Matthew Chambers, Martin Creed, Trisha Donnelly, Thomas Fougeirol, Fernanda Gomes, Julian Hoeber, Shila Khatami, Jiri Kovanda, Rodrigo Matheus, Fabien Mérelle, Julien Nédélec, Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Laurent Pernot, Ana Prvacki, Joe Reihsen, Ry Rocklen, Analia Saban, Yann Sérandour, Florian Schmidt, Sergio Verastegui, Marnie Weber, Lawrence Weiner, Zoe Williams, John Wood & Paul Harrison
Curated by René-Julien Praz
As Stéphane Mallarmé used to say, “Writing consists of putting black on white.” This poetic digression allows me to evoke the color white, a regal color that majestically takes centre stage, the chromatic synthesis of all other colors. When considering this exhibition, designed to give the artists carte blanche, I thought point blank of a title, but I won’t say that black is white: perhaps Thirty Shades of White was a rather predictable one.
Each of the artists (some well known, others less so) applies his/her own artistic vocabulary and color aesthetics in a subjective or objective personal journey into the world of shades. Is what we perceive not an illusion, a resonance, an emotional light that the artist endeavors to explore? “We do not create light, we portrait it,” said Cézanne. White is a demanding color. It reflects the light that all the other filter, dispersing it by refraction so the other colors can delight us. White sheds light on art itself; Malevitch, Opalka, Lewitt, Newman, Twombly, Ryman, Reinhardt, Manzoni, Kelly and many others brilliantly made use of this color. White symbolises the unity that precedes diversity, rites of passage, balance, grace and a moment frozen in time just before disappearance, obliteration, renunciation, abdication and bereavement.
–René-Julien Praz
For all inquiries please contact Clémence Duchon: clemence [at] praz-delavallade.com or T +33 1 45 86 20 00
