Dynamics of blue at the Denise René gallery
Summer is over but the Denise René gallery is diving into the deep blue. For its back-to-school exhibition, the historic gallery of kinetics has chosen to celebrate the azure which, on rue Charlot, occupies the entire space and all the picture rails until the end of October.
“It is the very color of modernity and optimism that we so need after covid,” remarks Denis Kilian, owner of the place and nephew of the gallery owner Denise René (who passed away in 2012) who made Victor known Vasarely and supported many pioneers of geometric abstraction and kinetic art in the second half of the XNUMXth century.
Dynamics of blue at the Denise René gallery
The “dynamics of blue” exhibition presents itself as a transgenerational homage, with the triangular structures of Elias Crespin, the sculptures of Pe Lang or the diffracted algorithms of Santiago Torres but also the works of the venerable “elders” Carlos Cruz Diez, recently deceased, and Victor Vasarely, the unrivaled father of “optical art”.
The majority of Marais residents are unaware that in the same way as the Perpignan station is the center of the universe (according to Dali), the Denise René gallery is the center of kinetic art. Which leads us to a little historical reminder. In 1945, the Parisian gallery owner was the first to present Vasarely's works. Ten years later, it was she again who organized the exhibition Le Mouvement in Paris, with Vasarely, Calder, Duchamp, Tinguely, Jacobsen, Agam, Bury and Soto. The founding act of kinetic art is laid.
This artistic form, whose principle is movement, is based on the idea that the work changes by optical effect when the spectator moves: just like the person who looks at the work of art, the latter is not not frozen. Constantly evolving under human gaze, it moves, it changes, it vibrates. This aesthetic of movement brings geometric shapes to life and creates a new language. This reached its peak in the 1970s, under Pompidou, when the artist Yaacov Agam arranged from floor to ceiling the anteroom of the private apartments of the presidential couple at the Élysée to make a 3D installation and, also, when Vasarely designed the Renault logo in 1972.
It is this glorious history that we come to immerse ourselves in with the dynamics of blue, as every time a new hanging is set in motion on the walls of the Denise René gallery.
Blue dynamics, until October 30
Galerie Denise René
22, rue Charlot, 75003 Paris
From Tuesday to Saturday
11AM - 19PM
Tel. : +01 48 87 73 94 XNUMX
Dynamics of blue at the Denise René gallery
Text: Axel Gyldén
06.10.21
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