Since its invention, photography has maintained a close dialogue with painting, borrowing some of its codes, formats, and research methods, while simultaneously contributing to a profound transformation of artistic practices. The boundary between the two mediums has become porous. Photography quickly ceased to be merely a tool or a simple rival of painting, just as painting was not indifferent to the emergence of the photographic image. Each observes, questions, and reinvents the other, in a constant interplay of aesthetic, conceptual, and material echoes.
In this fruitful dialogue, and as the exhibition's subtitle indicates, "Darkroom, White Canvas" presents photographic practices that look towards painting, setting aside the numerous pictorial approaches that integrate photography into their creative processes or incorporate photographic images into the painted surface. This exhibition takes a deliberate stance: the works and artists presented are the result of choices guided by their resonance with the permanent collection, the inherent relevance of the venues (museum, abbey church, great dormitory, the Grand Prioress's residence), and the desire to showcase singular expressions rather than an encyclopedic overview.
"Darkroom, White Canvas" offers a multi-stage journey. The exhibition opens with a group of photographs related to the artists in the museum's collection. It establishes dialogues with the paintings, further stimulated by the introduction of contemporary connections. The same principle is then applied to the photographers from the 1920s to the 1950s, where we encounter the major figures who contributed to the emancipation of the medium and their pictorial affinities. On the final level, the relationship is reversed. The more contemporary photographs are presented in sections and groups, interspersed with a few paintings, all designed to illuminate the ever-evolving relationship between these two mediums. Finally, the exhibition extends beyond the museum walls with often monumental works occupying various spaces within the abbey, thus broadening the visitor's experience of both the visual and the physical environment.
Curators:
Dominique Gagneux, Chief Curator and Director of the Museum
Gatien Du Bois, Head of Collections and Exhibitions at the Museum
Assisted by Aude Le Mercier, Head of Collections and Projects at the Museum
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