L'été Indien
07.09.23 - 14.10.23
Simon Demeuter
Guillaume Linard-Osorio
Thomas Trum
Pascal Vilcollet
The mysterious light of twilight / the ascending sun spreads out in paintings by Pascal
Vilcollet (born 1979, lives and works in Paris), whose work, despite it's non-figurative
nature, is typical for the carefully curated elements in his paintings whereas create a
sense of hierarchy and proximity that resonates with viewers, drawing them into the
vivid and textured world he creates on canvas. Vilcollet's typical element is the interplay
of perspectives, memories, symbols and colours, resulting in a unique blend of
expressionism and abstraction on large canvases. The studio holds an immense
significance in his artistic process. Vilcollet maps out his workspace by applying a
pictorial language to a blank surface. He circulates around the canvas and intervenes
by creating different layers to create a perspective. In a second phase, this notion of
perspective is broadened to call upon his memories and references.
The flip, where things take on a new form, its newly acquired physicality, can be felt in
Guillaume Linard-Osorio’s work (b. 1978, lives and works in Paris and Toulouse) where
construction materials linked to his background as an architect, often serve as the
foundation of his work. Despite their eventual disappearance in the finality of
construction, Linard-Osorio focuses on the transformation and visibility of these
materials; from their silent vocabulary, he reassembles and questions meaning. The
artist seeks points of rupture, the intrinsic critical threshold of materials, to reconsider
cultural and social connections and disconnections; often questioning our relationship
with the world and social interactions through material experiments.
The metamorphosis is completed in the work of Simon Demeuter (b. 1991, lives and
works in Paris), whose painting practice is driven by a search for bold simplification of
form, inducing his works with pictorial freshness and a sense of immediacy. Colour is
the artist’s primordial tool to evoke an emotion, an impression, a sensation, a mood or
a physical or mental state. Within his imagery, one can discern glimpses of an inner
landscape and subtle references to diverse art forms like Folk Art, Impressionism,
cinema, and music. Remarkably, a seemingly trivial object, chosen with arbitrary intent,
can serve as the catalyst for an entirely new series of paintings, as is evidenced in the
artworks showcased in the exhibition. From the humble beginnings of a Roman vase,
a captivating series unfolds before the viewer's eyes. Through this relentless
exploration, Demeuter seeks to uncover the elusive trace of emotion in its purest and
most unadorned form. His art speaks of a profound endeavor to distill the essence of
feeling, capturing it with a simple and stripped-down approach.
The cycle is symbolically closed by Thomas Trum’s oeuvre (b. 1989, lives and works
in the Netherlands), whereby the method of his work revolves around material research
of paint and techniques with the goal to reach an intersection of art and design; using
the studio as a place for experiment, he looks into unconventional ways to paint on
paper. Trum his artistic endeavors are characterized by a captivating array of colors
and an intriguing play of minimalism. The artist employs various nontraditional tools to
craft his masterpieces, such as a road-marking machine and a massive felt tool that
spans several feet in length. These unorthodox choices contribute to the creation of
his vibrant paintings, whether on canvas, paper, or walls, often resulting in breathtaking
large-scale works. His process is marked by laborious experimentation, resulting in
euphoric expressions of color, depth, and pattern.
