Art Paris 2021

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Inspired by Jean Sénac's poems, Massinissa Selmani tries to capture the particular rhythm of the author's writing. He draws fragments with watercolour that echo the language. The sentences are sometimes left as they are, sometimes invented, modified or expanded, while preserving and emphasizing the impertinence and absurdity of the revolutionary poet's words. Far from illustration, Massinissa Selmani focuses mainly on the formal and graphic rhythm to develop a poetry of drawing that is central in his work.

The series Aubes insondables represents an evolution in the work of Massinissa Selmani. Here, the artist is interested in the forms' suggestion through a play on space and values. Although his sources of inspiration deflect from the written press, these works are nevertheless in line with his reflection of designing enigmatic, floating and imaginary spaces. He conceives environments, in an "unfathomable" style as the title suggests, without beginning or end, accentuating the mystery of floating scenes and architectures.

In 3 jours de travail, Massinissa Selmani depicts an scene without decor, occupied by three characters with anonymised faces, emphasising their movement all the more. The uniform of one of them suggests a position of power in relation to the other two, reminiscent of the images of arrests that feed the news. However, the artist does not wish to refer to a specific situation, and inserts enigmatic elements, such as this long metal rod that keeps the distance or these cacti in place of the faces. These associations induce a disturbing strangeness, between comic absurdity and fright.

The series of sculptures grouped together under the name "Re-member" is, for Julien Discrit, an opportunity to pursue his research on the mineral in its relationship to time and body. These sculptures most often show hands holding fossilised or crystallised rocks. They come to elucidate an almost archaic gesture of gripping. In a snapshot, they propose a "becoming stone" that plays with both materials - organic and mineral mixed together in yet another - but also with artistic and historical practices.
Through this anachronistic gesture, the artist reproduces identically a process of fossilization that could be described as "natural", consisting of depositing an imprint in a material that receives it. In other words, a casting. However, the forms obtained here take on the appearance of a possible metamorphosis, of an image stopped within a continuum where the material is constantly transforming and recombining.

The series of sculptures grouped together under the name "Re-member" is, for Julien Discrit, an opportunity to pursue his research on the mineral in its relationship to time and body. These sculptures most often show hands holding fossilised or crystallised rocks. They come to elucidate an almost archaic gesture of gripping.
In a snapshot, they propose a "becoming stone" that plays with both materials - organic and mineral mixed together in yet another - but also with artistic and historical practices.
Through this anachronistic gesture, the artist reproduces identically a process of fossilization that could be described as "natural", consisting of depositing an imprint in a material that receives it. In other words, a casting. However, the forms obtained here take on the appearance of a possible metamorphosis, of an image stopped within a continuum where the material is constantly transforming and recombining.

Dans Cinq ans, Valérie Mréjen nous plonge dans l'intimité d'une histoire d'amour fictionnelle en cinq actes dont la trame narrative se déroule au fil des détails de cartes postales noir et blanc datant des années 1970. Certains motifs sont repris en rouge par l'artiste, animant le récit et rebondissant sur les quelques mots qui servent de légende à chaque scène. Cette courte fiction plastique renvoie à la thématique de la famille et du passage du temps, propice à la célébration d'un anniversaire, et s'inscrit dans ses recherches sur les cartes postales, leur fonction épistolaire et leur rapport au langage et aux souvenirs.

In Le Monde entre leurs mains, Chourouk Hriech presents a series of black-and-white photographs that take tattooed youth as their subject. Each model holds a world’s map in his hands, deploying a particular gesture. The artist seeks to develop a dialogue between the images printed on the globe, and these drawings engraved on the skin, evoking the life adventures, dreams and ambitions of each model. These representations of the world inevitably escape them because the figures and symbols evolve with the times. Nevertheless, by choosing to assert themselves through tattoos, these young people defy time, future and reality. Thus, Chourouk Hriech pushes the practice of drawing further by multiplying the mediums to explore its potentialities and its materializations.

In Le Monde entre leurs mains, Chourouk Hriech presents a series of black-and-white photographs that take tattooed youth as their subject. Each model holds a world?s map in his hands, deploying a particular gesture. The artist seeks to develop a dialogue between the images printed on the globe, and these drawings engraved on the skin, evoking the life adventures, dreams and ambitions of each model. These representations of the world inevitably escape them because the figures and symbols evolve with the times. Nevertheless, by choosing to assert themselves through tattoos, these young people defy time, future and reality. Thus, Chourouk Hriech pushes the practice of drawing further by multiplying the mediums to explore its potentialities and its materializations.

In Le Monde entre leurs mains, Chourouk Hriech presents a series of black-and-white photographs that take tattooed youth as their subject. Each model holds a world's map in his hands, deploying a particular gesture. The artist seeks to develop a dialogue between the images printed on the globe, and these drawings engraved on the skin, evoking the life adventures, dreams and ambitions of each model. These representations of the world inevitably escape them because the figures and symbols evolve with the times. Nevertheless, by choosing to assert themselves through tattoos, these young people defy time, future and reality. Thus, Chourouk Hriech pushes the practice of drawing further by multiplying the mediums to explore its potentialities and its materializations.

Dans cette oeuvre, Florin Stefan realise une toile rassemblant cinq femmes nues, se perdant dans le bleu intense de la réunion de l'eau, des vagues et du ciel. Hommage aux baigneuses classiques, ce tableau est empreint d'une coupable innocence, à l'image de son titre Réflexions sur le jugement dernier #2  soulignant l'absurdité de l'existence et ses aboutissants dans l'intimité du quotidien.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien...), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

From his memories (images gleaned from the Internet, trips abroad, daily environment...), Yann Lacroix paints deliberately composite landscapes, inhabited by exotic vegetation, tropical greenhouses and swimming pools, made up of their own artificiality and empty of human presence but whose traces of a past or possible history bring sensuality and life: a reflection on heterotopias that is articulated through these places that are both phantasmagoriated and borrowed from the poetry of everyday life like allegories in the painting itself.

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L'amour is part of a group of paintings produced from photographs of sweat-shirts. Very typical of her work, the artist transforms the picture by playing on the scale ratio to provide a different angle. By the inclination of the focal length towards a close perspective and by enlarging the picture, Mireille Blanc subtly fades the subject out of the image, and constructs a filter between the artwork and the one who is looking at it. By blurring the inscription and the image's context, often old-fashion and kitsch, she focuses on the vagueness of the elements treated and plays on the enigmatic nature of subjects she encounters.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

In Amorce dans l'air léger, Massinissa Selmani assembles elements to produce strange, even absurd situations, imbued with a certain gravity; they suggest signs of a latent tragedy or the beginnings of an elusive violence to come. The resulting storytelling, deliberately constructed from postures or fragments of architecture that seem familiar, escapes the possibility of situating or dating them. The elements thus isolated from their context tend to make the situations eternal.

In Amorce dans l'air léger, Massinissa Selmani assembles elements to produce strange, even absurd situations, imbued with a certain gravity; they suggest signs of a latent tragedy or the beginnings of an elusive violence to come. The resulting storytelling, deliberately constructed from postures or fragments of architecture that seem familiar, escapes the possibility of situating or dating them. The elements thus isolated from their context tend to make the situations eternal.

This series is composed by thirteen drawings performed with Indian ink during a trip in Dubai in 2019. In these drawings Chourouk Hriech uses different perspectives where elements are  intertwined. She mixes traditional and modern architectures with every day and imaginary objects, maps, and vegetal landscapes. Temporalities and spaces become muddled : the historic city and the more modern elements create a futuristic environment paced by poetic and symbolic objects inspired by the imaginary of the country.

With these series of sculptures, Julien Discrit develops research where the materials and forms are intimately intertwined. He pursues two reflections very important in his work: one on the minerals, crystals and stones, and another on the spatial, geological and temporal relationship between humankind and its environment. Like future fossils, these sculptures of human hands holding rocks represent an almost archaic gesture of gripping. In a snapshot, they propose a "becoming stone" that plays with both materials - organic and mineral mixed together in yet another piece made of reconstituted stone - but also with artistic and historical practices in the sense of inventing a contemporary aesthetic from an artificial archaeological ruin. It thus reveals the aesthetic forms already given in our environment like these stones which are in themselves finished sculptural forms.

Chourouk Hriech frequently takes inspiration during her travels. In this series, she depicts a journey in Thailand which becomes the central subject of her drawings. These artworks become a travel diary where the artist captures the essence of her subject with quick strokes, illustrating buildings, streets or objects that interested her during this journey.

Chourouk Hriech frequently takes inspiration during her travels. In this series, she depicts a journey in Thailand which becomes the central subject of her drawings. These artworks become a travel diary where the artist captures the essence of her subject with quick strokes, illustrating buildings, streets or objects that interested her during this journey.

Chourouk Hriech frequently takes inspiration during her travels. In this series, she depicts a journey in Thailand which becomes the central subject of her drawings. These artworks become a travel diary where the artist captures the essence of her subject with quick strokes, illustrating buildings, streets or objects that interested her during this journey.

With these series of sculptures, Julien Discrit develops research where the materials and forms are intimately intertwined. He pursues two reflections very important in his work: one on the minerals, crystals and stones, and another on the spatial, geological and temporal relationship between humankind and its environment. Like future fossils, these sculptures of human hands holding rocks represent an almost archaic gesture of gripping. In a snapshot, they propose a "becoming stone" that plays with both materials - organic and mineral mixed together in yet another piece made of reconstituted stone - but also with artistic and historical practices in the sense of inventing a contemporary aesthetic from an artificial archaeological ruin. It thus reveals the aesthetic forms already given in our environment like these stones which are in themselves finished sculptural forms.

Chourouk Hriech visited Tel Aviv during her exhibition in the Centre for Contemporary Art in 2018. As often during her journey abroad, the artist drew a series entitled Tel Aviv's lines depicting her discoveries and exploration of the city in black and white. The brand-new buildings stand alongside the dilapidated ones, highlighting the continual transformation of the space. These drawings allude to Mediterranean architectures, as well as Bauhaus influences and the big Californian streets with the play of light and shade. In this architectural panorama, Chourouk Hriech emphasizes on the contrast between the hard stroke of the buildings and the disordered vegetation.

Chourouk Hriech visited Tel Aviv during her exhibition in the Centre for Contemporary Art in 2018. As often during her journey abroad, the artist drew a series entitled Tel Aviv's lines depicting her discoveries and exploration of the city in black and white. The brand-new buildings stand alongside the dilapidated ones, highlighting the continual transformation of the space. These drawings allude to Mediterranean architectures, as well as Bauhaus influences and the big Californian streets with the play of light and shade. In this architectural panorama, Chourouk Hriech emphasizes on the contrast between the hard stroke of the buildings and the disordered vegetation.

Through her series Les puits du ciel, Chourouk Hriech continues her exploration of drawing through the use of vases, whose shapes refer to ancient times. Within these everyday objects, she draws birds, which she considers as allegories of spirituality, as manifestations of an endless and inaccessible 'elsewhere'. By opening the vase, the artist overturns realities and invites us to discover an imaginary ecosystem. She twists the initial function of the objects to explore new possibilities. The artist creates a paradox, reflected by the oxymoron in the title: the vases shelter another sky and the hollow space becomes infinite.
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Marion Baruch has, for the past ten years, been intervening on fabric offcuts retrieved from the textile industry in Milan. The artist selects, sorts and arrange those materials, so as to transform those disregarded scraps from the industrial and urban society into forms characterised by a flexible geometry. Hung from the ceiling or pinned on the wall, her works reflect a history, as social and political as individual and sensitive.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien…), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien...), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

In Amorce dans l'air léger, Massinissa Selmani assembles elements to produce strange, even absurd situations, imbued with a certain gravity; they suggest signs of a latent tragedy or the beginnings of an elusive violence to come. The resulting storytelling, deliberately constructed from postures or fragments of architecture that seem familiar, escapes the possibility of situating or dating them. The elements thus isolated from their context tend to make the situations eternal.

The Coques lourdes series is an opportunity for Massinissa Selmani to draw sceneries in which the characters represented seem to adopt postures of retreat and passivity. These situations evoke various forms of violence and threat which remain, as always with the artist, largely undetermined. Manipulating humour and gravity, Massinissa Selmani reveals a reality between poetry and politics.

The Coques lourdes series is an opportunity for Massinissa Selmani to draw sceneries in which the characters represented seem to adopt postures of retreat and passivity. These situations evoke various forms of violence and threat which remain, as always with the artist, largely undetermined. Manipulating humour and gravity, Massinissa Selmani reveals a reality between poetry and politics.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

À partir de ses souvenirs (images glanées sur Internet, séjours à l'étranger, environnement quotidien), Yann Lacroix peint des paysages volontairement composites, habités de végétation exotique, de serres tropicales et de piscines, constitués de leur propre artificialité et vides de présence humaine mais dont la trace d'une histoire passée ou possible amène sensualité et vie : une réflexion sur les hétérotopies qui s'articule par le biais de ces lieux à la fois fantasmés et emprunts d'une poésie du quotidien comme des allégories de la peinture même.

Pull, dans les nuages is part of a group of paintings produced from photographs of sweat-shirts. Very typical of her work, the artist transforms the picture by playing on the scale ratio to provide a different angle. By the inclination of the focal length towards a close perspective and by enlarging the picture, Mireille Blanc subtly fades the subject out of the image, and constructs a filter between the artwork and the one who is looking at it. By blurring the inscription and the image's context, often old-fashion and kitsch, she focuses on the vagueness of the elements treated and plays on the enigmatic nature of subjects she encounters.

L'ange de Nagasaki  is a reconstitution of a statue damaged by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki 9 August 1945. The truncated face of the Angel of Nagasaki is reconstituted here by the artist who presents the half of it that has been destroyed.  Produced in a giant block of white marble, this missing piece potentially repairs the figure of the Angel; it is a spectral and celestial alter ego of the human figure. The play on scale ratio adds to this reconstitution the strength of monument, reinforcing its symbolic dimension.

This artwork has been produced within the frame and the support of the 1% du marché de l'Art project.

Marion Baruch has, for the past ten years, been intervening on fabric offcuts retrieved from the textile industry in Milan. The artist selects, sorts and arrange those materials, so as to transform those disregarded scraps from the industrial and urban society into forms characterised by a flexible geometry. Hung from the ceiling or pinned on the wall, her works reflect a history, as social and political as individual and sensitive.

Through her series Les puits du ciel, Chourouk Hriech continues her exploration of drawing through the use of vases, whose shapes refer to ancient times. Within these everyday objects, she draws birds, which she considers as allegories of spirituality, as manifestations of an endless and inaccessible 'elsewhere'. By opening the vase, the artist overturns realities and invites us to discover an imaginary ecosystem. She twists the initial function of the objects to explore new possibilities. The artist creates a paradox, reflected by the oxymoron in the title: the vases shelter another sky and the hollow space becomes infinite.
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