Relief: the material meets the mixed media painting

- 01/09/2022

The German painter Paul Klee said it rather well: “Art does not reproduce the visible, it creates the visible. To put it in other words, since the great break in modern art, today's painters aren’t forced to faithfully represent reality, or oil paint... They have free rein and can experiment at pleasure! Thus, the famous "mixed techniques" pave the path for countless explorations of the material for artists. This can concern textile, sculptural, soft, or rough to the touch, new or recovered materials... All this, is affixed, woven, or glued on a canvas!

Ready for an explosion of textures and creativity? Now that we are adults, we know how to embrace reliefs with our eyes...
For this collection, which is specially dedicated to materials, Carré d'artistes invites you to discover artists who play with torn papers, pieces of lace, sequin embroidery, gold leaf or even recycled items. These art magicians trigger a small piece of reality onto the canvas and transcend its primary use to unveil its texture. Would you like an example? An old soda can which is suddenly included in the artwork, can be seen through a new light: the eye follows the metal folds, its rather bright red color, the brilliance of this industrial material that we never seem to notice… It finally awakens the eye.

This collection dedicated to materials is an invitation to feel the sensuality of art, more than ever. It wants to offer the possibility of rediscovering common objects, by revealing their beauty and harmony. It wants to shake up the gaze, boost visual senses, disrupt the established categories of painting. Last but not least, affirm not only is art liberated, but art is liberating– because it makes us more sensitive than ever.

PAINTERS WHO PLAY WITH MATERIALS

Among the atypical painters of this collection dedicated to the sensuality of matter, Sophie Costa has Pop flowing in her blood. Within her artwork, she willingly uses an audio cassette, a soda can or even a tube of paint, or objects from everyday life (sometimes with a vintage aura) that she surrounds with patterns, that are inherited from Andy Warhol or Roy Liechtenstein. A bold move!

Yasmina Ziyat leans on sensitivity, playing with very fine lace that adorns small wooden mediums. Corine Pagny is also endowed with nimble fingers; she appeals through her ink drawings embroidered with tiny fabric flowers that are amazing: we can easily imagine her compositions adorning the room of a newborn – or a new love story…

Paper lovers will turn to Gérard Clisson, who faithfully pursues his pictorial exploration of torn paper. He arranges it through abstract patterns, turns it into colorful compositions that titillate the eye... While Bernard Devie defies the possibilities of cardboard by using stripped forms, heirs of Art Deco. Ideal for decorating a reception room!

The art history review: what was the first multi-material painting?

It is no surprise, that we owe the first mixed technique artwork to our dear friend Pablo Picasso, king of innovations! “Still Life with Chair-Caning” was created in 1912 and brings together on an oval medium, an oil painting, a piece of waxed canvas and a rope. A combination of painting and collage, this extraordinary still life immediately went down in history. You can find this creation at the Picasso National Museum in Paris, now.

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