Out of focus: Another vision of art, from 1945 to nowadays
Inherently elusive, the out-of-focus aesthetic took shape in distancing; not by direct opposition to the clinical objectivity of a world under high surveillance, but
rather as a balancing act in the gaps in reality; A distancing that does not result from rejection or denial of the world鈥檚 triviality but which explores its new mo-
dalities. At the borders of the visible, blurriness, while betraying instability, also creates the conditions for re-enchantment.
The exhibition itinerary is organised thematically rather than chronologically. An introductory room is devoted to the aesthetic roots of blurriness in the 19th and
turn of the 20th century, following on from the intellectual, scientific, societal and
artistic upheavals that impressionism grew up with. The exhibition is then organised in three sections combining paintings, videos and photographs. After an exploration of the limits of perception, 鈥渁t the frontiers of the visible鈥�, 鈥渢he erosion of certainties鈥� addresses blurriness from a historical and political perspective, examining questions of memory and status of images in relation to tragic episodes that have peppered our contemporary history. Yet the blurring of images goes beyond the collective aspect: there is something poetic, even dreamlike, about it when it touches upon the question of identity and 鈥渆ulogises the indistinct鈥�. An epilogue opens the discussion and examines the possibility of a re-enchantment of the world, in response to the artist Mircea Cantor鈥檚 tremulous assertion, 鈥渦npredictable future鈥�.
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Inherently elusive, the out-of-focus aesthetic took shape in distancing; not by direct opposition to the clinical objectivity of a world under high surveillance, but
rather as a balancing act in the gaps in reality; A distancing that does not result from rejection or denial of the world鈥檚 triviality but which explores its new mo-
dalities. At the borders of the visible, blurriness, while betraying instability, also creates the conditions for re-enchantment.
The exhibition itinerary is organised thematically rather than chronologically. An introductory room is devoted to the aesthetic roots of blurriness in the 19th and
turn of the 20th century, following on from the intellectual, scientific, societal and
artistic upheavals that impressionism grew up with. The exhibition is then organised in three sections combining paintings, videos and photographs. After an exploration of the limits of perception, 鈥渁t the frontiers of the visible鈥�, 鈥渢he erosion of certainties鈥� addresses blurriness from a historical and political perspective, examining questions of memory and status of images in relation to tragic episodes that have peppered our contemporary history. Yet the blurring of images goes beyond the collective aspect: there is something poetic, even dreamlike, about it when it touches upon the question of identity and 鈥渆ulogises the indistinct鈥�. An epilogue opens the discussion and examines the possibility of a re-enchantment of the world, in response to the artist Mircea Cantor鈥檚 tremulous assertion, 鈥渦npredictable future鈥�.
Artists on show
- Albert Londe
- Albert Oehlen
- Alberto Giacometti
- Alfredo Jaar
- Antoine d´Agata
- Auguste Rodin
- Bertrand Lavier
- Bill Viola
- Bracha L. Ettinger
- Christer Strömholm
- Christian Boltanski
- Claire Chesnier
- Claude Monet
- Claudio Parmiggiani
- Clémence Mauger
- Dove Allouche
- Edvard Munch
- Edward Steichen
- Estefanía Peñafiel Loaiza
- Eugène Carrière
- Eva Nielsen
- Francis Bacon
- Frères Henry
- Georges Seurat
- Gerhard Richter
- Hans Haacke
- Hans Hartung
- Hervé Guibert
- Hiroshi Sugimoto
- Joana Hadjithomas
- Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Julia Margaret Cameron
- Khalil Joreige
- Kikuji Kawada
- Krzysztof Pruszkowski
- Laure Tiberghien
- Léa Belooussovitch
- Luc Tuymans
- Maarten Baas
- Mame-Diarra Niang
- Mark Rothko
- Medardo Rosso
- Mircea Cantor
- Miriam Cahn
- Nan Goldin
- Nicolas Delprat
- Odilon Redon
- Oscar Munoz
- Otto Piene
- Philippe Cognée
- Pipilotti Rist
- Sébastien Lifshitz
- Sigmar Polke
- Tania Mouraud
- Thomas Lélu
- Thomas Ruff
- Ugo Rondinone
- Vincent Dulom
- Wojciech Fangor
- Y.Z. Kami
- Yves Klein
- Zoran Mu拧i膷
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A probing exhibition in Paris explores blurriness as a space of resistance, mourning, and imagination.
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