Over 400 Secret Photographs of The Artist's Studio: Exploring the Creative Lairs of Picasso, Bac
In the Studio at Petit Palais in Paris invites us into the fascinating world of artists’ “ateliers” or studios. By the means of photography, we visit the creative spaces of some of the most renown artists of time - including Picasso, Matisse, Bourdelle, Zadkine, Brancusi, Joan Mitchell, Miquel Barceló and Jeff Koons. The exhibition is built around 400 photographs of studios throughout centuries. Positioning itself as a multi-coloured and a multi-dimensional diary, it transposes us into the secret sphere of art. Facing the photographs, we watch, become admirers of the artists’ studios in their most intimate details. Nothing next to these photographs is described and yet everything is said through the eyes of the photographer, who becomes a part of the the artist’s life.
This exhibition is more than just a series of studio images, it’s a visual exploration. In the Studio portrays the artist and his life from Nicolas de Staël, Piet Mondrian to Joan Mitchell, or Paul Rebeyrolle. Through a glance at the artist’s work and intimate life, we can almost touch and sense each individual’s process of creation. We can virtually smell the odour of wet paint blended with an after-taste of cold cigarette, the perfume of the model who probably left not so long ago, as her sweet scent still lingers. The relationship between an artist and his model is captivating. The models, often naked are not supposed to be seducing the painter or the sculptor they are posing for, yet there is a mysterious disturbance and agitation reigning within their shared space.
The essential collaboration between a photographer and his subject is highlighted throughout the exhibition. The artist, by the presence of a photographer allows in reality a broad number of individuals into his inner world. Without him, the viewing audience wouldn’t be let in. In the end, we are the privileged witnesses of a process that flirts with magic: that of undefinable creativity. Through these images, we think we can grasp a part of it, or we are let to believe that we are being let in.
We are also drawn into their reality. If the artist’s studio is a synonym for fantasy and the bohemian lifestyle, it’s also one that is harsh and unfair. It is the counterpart of being the creator of magnificent artefacts and the author of eternal beauty. It is a paradox revealed in Francis Bacon’s photography captured by Carlos Freire in 1977 posing in the midst of a heap of what we would call a mess, but what he would call his guts. The posing artist becomes vulnerable. He is not the powerful master in quest of another dominant piece, he is rather an individual in the midst of his feelings, struggling to find his way out. The studio is a part of himself, not so much a workplace anymore but a haven where he is free to be, feel, and create.
In the Studio runs until July 17th at Petit Palais, Paris France
Tamara Akcay
