ART CITIES:N.York-Bernard Frize
Bernard Frize began paintg in the mid ‘70s, a time when Conceptual Art was flourishing. Painting’s intellectual currency was in decline, especially in France, and Postmodernism and photography based art were emerging. Already with his early work Frize burst the cult of the artist as a creator. In his view, the artist is not above anyone else, he is merely a ‘labourer’ who produces paintings.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Galerie Perrotin Archive
In his solo exhibition “Dawn comes up so young”, Bernard Frize presents new paintings contextualized by historical works from the ‘90s and offers a dialogue on the emergence of an image. The artist paints in series, each is based on a preconceived technique with strong conceptual features. In this way, he succeeds in deliberately defying categorization, he works in a variety of styles and makes use of various technical devices, tending to undermine conventional notions of authorship and artistic practice. Characteristically, his work conflates seductive visual effects with a disquieting interrogation of the medium. An element of alchemy can be detected in his most work, the structure and color of the work are created directly on the canvas by the application of colored glazes. He mixes synthetic resin with fluid acrylic paint to avoid all traces of personal touch and the emotional effect of a brush mark. However, they only come to light at the end of a lengthy process in which the fluid impasto sets into a visible film of paint. The resulting picture planes, alluring and hermetic at the same time, have become a trademark of his painting style. Bernard Frize carries the random principle to such lengths that the act of painting itself can be described as invisible. His technique of painting is a premeditated process, like the development of a photograph. It aims at transcending both technology and chemical facts, exploiting the residue of mystery that dwells in the use of chance. Bernard Frize expects the viewer to contribute actively to his paintings, because our eyes not merely record or ‘see’ things when we look at the painting, at the same time we try to discover something, we search for causality and we try to deduce consequences. As Frize puts it: “A painting must bear witness to a certain intelligence. It is the result of a certain logic that causes us to look twice at the canvas”.
Info: Galerie Perrotin, 909 Madison Avenue & 73rd Street, Upper East Side, New York, Duration 3/5-18/6/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.perrotin.com
