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01.05. - 03.06.2014. TILL THE END OF IT. Anthony Faroux, John Cornu, Michel Castaignet, Kristaps Gelzis

01.05. -03.06.2014

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

Michel Castaignet "Resume" 5, 2014, oil on canvas, 200x200

„till the end of it”

Anthony Faroux, John Cornu, Michel Castaignet, Kristaps Gelzis

This show cast a light on the common practice of four artists from different paths. These artists follow the logic of their material until the end of it and the resulting shapes echo strongly with the ones of the modernity period. By some aspects the artworks displayed in the show seem arriving from the past if it was not for they come from a different context.

John Cornu’s hijacks is here associated with Malevitch and his supremacist quest.  The formal imperatives of the modern times have let place to formal necessities. Thus Anthony’s Faroux’ collages could be a direct citation of Matisse if they were not only papers cut to show their inner qualities. The paintings of Michel Castaignet follow a logic of collage but nevertheless recall the systems of Buren. But the latter work of Kristaps Gelzis looks like an homage to Gustavs Klucis but in fact, the image is driven by his usage of adhesive tape.

“till the end of it” gathers four artists whose work drive them toward shapes that seem an inheritance. This is not an exhibition about Modernity and the real or supposed heritage of the artists, but it is a show which stages an aesthetic of the modern that arise from the constraint of the material.

                                       Michel Castaignet, exhibition concept.

More about the exhibition:       http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Om7IOFYt2pE