Cézanne

The exhibition Cézanne sought to consider “fine” painting in a critical light and to put its conventions and truisms on line, although not necessarily from a painterly perspective. The oeuvre and ideas of Paul Cézanne were the foundation of the exhibition.

A comparison between film and painting underscored the specificity of the image. The exhibition included works by the Swiss artists Rémy Zaugg (1943) and René Pulfer (1949), the French artist Daniel Walravens (1944) and the French filmmakers Jean-Marie Straub (1933) and Danièle Huillet (1936).

The oeuvre and ideas of Paul Cézanne were the foundation of the exhibition. The participating artists, who had long been fascinated by Cézanne’s work, commented, in various approaches, on his work and ideas. Cézanne was one of the first artists to turn against illusionism. For Cézanne, forms and colors refer to nothing but themselves, and all parts of the painting were equally important.

Zaugg's works in the exhibition included paintings, etchings, books and a video installation, all rela-ted to Cézanne’s La Maison du Pendu (1872-73). Over and over again he tried to register this painting in words, stressing the continuously changing experience of an image that never appears the same. With Pulfer, Zaugg collaborated on a film version of his art of perception, which resulted in the video-film Projection. The film shows the artist working in nature on a large white canvas. The part of the landscape that is cut off from view by the canvas is projected onto it, while the artist copies the projection in white. Projection is a registration of an imitation – or rather an apparent imitation – of nature.
Zaugg’s oeuvre was combined with the film Cézanne by Straub and Huillet. While the film is about painting, it is based on a text: Joachim Gasquet’s recorded conversations with the aging Cézanne. A reconstruction of this dialogue is recited in a metrical rhythm.

Walravens, whose work is an ongoing inquiry into color theory, commented on the use of color in the oeuvre of Cézanne. By making monochrome paintings with colors from an industrial color index, he investigated the interaction between artisanal and artistic uses of color.