„Soudain hier“ presents impressive large scale work by Marc Desgrandchamps at Galerie Lelong and thus marks the occasion of a first sight on this series of 15 brand new paintings. The show includes oil paintings playing with transparency and double exposure, painted with the confidence of someone who truly masters their art, as well as large gouaches on paper mounted on canvas, with precise lines and intense colours that give the subjects of
his paintings a new materiality.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE “Soudain Hier”, Marc Desgrandchamps, through 21 January, at Lelong Gallery, Paris galerie-lelong.com

In addition to the technical aspects, with these new works we also return to the troubling world that makes this artist so unique. We are struck by the depths of the vast landscapes that appear to stretch into infinity, by the ghostly silhouettes that blur the boundary between dream and reality, the scattered objects in landscapes where time appears to be frozen. With these works, Marc Desgrandchamps disrupts the classic codes of representation to take us ‘suddenly, to a time in cinematic suspension, both near and far.

Typically, Desgrandchamps‘ paintings don’t have titles and relate mostly to photography and cinema. His references are often ancient and modern paintings from museums, from Poussin to Beckmann to Malevich. Over these he superimposes film stills, photographs taken during his travels and sometimes images clipped from the press.

Their essentially figurative and realistic character shows that his paintings are no exception to the principle of migration of forms and attitudes. The viewer may recall an antique relief or a figure on a vase, however, these almost academic references to the art of the past are enriched by cinematic references, holiday photos and probably childhood memories.

Desgrandchamps‘ specific process of representation is complex and thematically opened up over the years tackling new subjects along with technical changes. His work has enabled him to combine painterly realism with a dreamlike, layered illusion.

---