Quentin Gassiat
Sédimentations 11 - Chapitre 2, 2023
Pigment print on Arches BFK Rives White 310g paper (Picto, Paris)
30 x 30 cm
edition of 10
Having just released his Dico de l'Art Urbain (published by Alternatives), Quentin Gassiat returns this autumn to exhibit his recent photographic work at 13 rue de Saintonge (Paris 3rd). This time, the tone will be decidedly lighter than when the young artist unveiled his visual project and collection of testimonies on the possibility of life after nuclear disasters (Zones d'Exception, 2022).
Galerie Xenithia-Nomade is presenting Chapter 2 of Sédimentations, an urban stroll that uses photography to document the layering of writing and images on the walls of our cities, through posters that have been torn up, covered over and uncovered. The first part of this work was presented in Milan in March 2019, and a new series is shown in Paris from 9 to 18 November 2023.
Torn paper has mobilised many artists for a long time now. Quentin Gassiat is following in this tradition, while at the same time indulging in the ephemeral poetics of commercial coverings. As in the previous exhibition, we encounter a particular attention paid to the presence of seductive bodies: staring or teasing looks, suspended gestures, snatches of face sketching a smile, luscious lips. The colours are less pronounced than in the previous series: the rain, wind and pollution will have taken their toll on these commercial icons, which the artist chose to photograph on his wanderings. The random tearing creates composite and enigmatic figures, illustrating the fact that this new chapter continues, not without humour, the reflection presented in 2019.
But perhaps, on closer inspection, we should beware of appearances... Wasn't the subtitle of the Milan exhibition already: "Visibility is not a presence"?
Practical information:
13, rue de Saintonge, 75003 Paris
On 9 Novembre: 17:00 - 21:00
From 10 to 18 Novembre:
Weekdays: 12:00-14:00 // 16:00-20:00
Saturday & Sunday: 14:00 - 20:00
