ARTISTS
Roman Opalka: Passages
04 Sep, 2010 - 09 Oct, 2010
Yvon Lambert is pleased to present Passages, Roman Opalka's first solo exhibition at the gallery. The show will run concurrently in Yvon Lambert's Paris and New York galleries. The opening reception for the artist will be September 4 in Paris, and September 9 in New York.
"I wanted to express time - the changes in its duration that divulge nature - in a way very personal to Man, a subject conscious of its own presence defined by death. Life emotion in an irreversible duration." Roman Opalka.
For the first time, Roman Opalka will present in Paris a hundred self-portraits as well as five oustanding 'Details' from the 'OPALKA 1965/1 - ! ' series, an infinite chain of numbers from which each painting is entitled 'Detail'. The gallery will exhibit five 'Details' that each represents the crossing from one million to the other. In the New York gallery, three consecutive 'Details' will be on display as a triptych.
Since 1965, Roman Opalka has conveived a project that would become a life-long program: retranscribing a infinite series of numbers from one canvas to another. Each painting would be entitled 'Detail' and would bare the same dimensions. As one page of a book, each painting would be part of a whole entitlled "OPALKA 1965/1 -! ". This life-time project started when Roman Opalka painted in white the number 1 on the upper left part of the black canvas. If the start of this project is determined both in time and in its unit, the end is still open and will take place at the death of its author.
According to Roman Opalka, the conscience of one's own passing can only be transcend in the physical rendering of painting. Time is only 'one'. The artist doesn't transcribe dates unlike On Kawara, he attempts to translate time through a series of numbers that preserve their graphic and symbolic quality. For the artist, the #0 brush dipped in white paint helps retranscribe visually numbers that he pronounces out loud in his mother tongue (Polish) and recorded on tape. After each work session, Opalka always photographs himself in a white shirt and strong lighting facing his painting.
Starting 1972, Roman Opalka started introducing progressively some white paint in the black colour that he uses to paint the background of each painting. This progression will inevitably lead to the white monochrome, a fusion of form and content instaured by the daily ritual of the artist.
"I wanted to express time - the changes in its duration that divulge nature - in a way very personal to Man, a subject conscious of its own presence defined by death. Life emotion in an irreversible duration." Roman Opalka.
For the first time, Roman Opalka will present in Paris a hundred self-portraits as well as five oustanding 'Details' from the 'OPALKA 1965/1 - ! ' series, an infinite chain of numbers from which each painting is entitled 'Detail'. The gallery will exhibit five 'Details' that each represents the crossing from one million to the other. In the New York gallery, three consecutive 'Details' will be on display as a triptych.
Since 1965, Roman Opalka has conveived a project that would become a life-long program: retranscribing a infinite series of numbers from one canvas to another. Each painting would be entitled 'Detail' and would bare the same dimensions. As one page of a book, each painting would be part of a whole entitlled "OPALKA 1965/1 -! ". This life-time project started when Roman Opalka painted in white the number 1 on the upper left part of the black canvas. If the start of this project is determined both in time and in its unit, the end is still open and will take place at the death of its author.
According to Roman Opalka, the conscience of one's own passing can only be transcend in the physical rendering of painting. Time is only 'one'. The artist doesn't transcribe dates unlike On Kawara, he attempts to translate time through a series of numbers that preserve their graphic and symbolic quality. For the artist, the #0 brush dipped in white paint helps retranscribe visually numbers that he pronounces out loud in his mother tongue (Polish) and recorded on tape. After each work session, Opalka always photographs himself in a white shirt and strong lighting facing his painting.
Starting 1972, Roman Opalka started introducing progressively some white paint in the black colour that he uses to paint the background of each painting. This progression will inevitably lead to the white monochrome, a fusion of form and content instaured by the daily ritual of the artist.
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Yvon Lambert is pleased to present Passages, Roman Opalka's first solo exhibition at the gallery. The show will run concurrently in Yvon Lambert's Paris and New York galleries. The opening reception for the artist will be September 4 in Paris, and September 9 in New York.
"I wanted to express time - the changes in its duration that divulge nature - in a way very personal to Man, a subject conscious of its own presence defined by death. Life emotion in an irreversible duration." Roman Opalka.
For the first time, Roman Opalka will present in Paris a hundred self-portraits as well as five oustanding 'Details' from the 'OPALKA 1965/1 - ! ' series, an infinite chain of numbers from which each painting is entitled 'Detail'. The gallery will exhibit five 'Details' that each represents the crossing from one million to the other. In the New York gallery, three consecutive 'Details' will be on display as a triptych.
Since 1965, Roman Opalka has conveived a project that would become a life-long program: retranscribing a infinite series of numbers from one canvas to another. Each painting would be entitled 'Detail' and would bare the same dimensions. As one page of a book, each painting would be part of a whole entitlled "OPALKA 1965/1 -! ". This life-time project started when Roman Opalka painted in white the number 1 on the upper left part of the black canvas. If the start of this project is determined both in time and in its unit, the end is still open and will take place at the death of its author.
According to Roman Opalka, the conscience of one's own passing can only be transcend in the physical rendering of painting. Time is only 'one'. The artist doesn't transcribe dates unlike On Kawara, he attempts to translate time through a series of numbers that preserve their graphic and symbolic quality. For the artist, the #0 brush dipped in white paint helps retranscribe visually numbers that he pronounces out loud in his mother tongue (Polish) and recorded on tape. After each work session, Opalka always photographs himself in a white shirt and strong lighting facing his painting.
Starting 1972, Roman Opalka started introducing progressively some white paint in the black colour that he uses to paint the background of each painting. This progression will inevitably lead to the white monochrome, a fusion of form and content instaured by the daily ritual of the artist.
"I wanted to express time - the changes in its duration that divulge nature - in a way very personal to Man, a subject conscious of its own presence defined by death. Life emotion in an irreversible duration." Roman Opalka.
For the first time, Roman Opalka will present in Paris a hundred self-portraits as well as five oustanding 'Details' from the 'OPALKA 1965/1 - ! ' series, an infinite chain of numbers from which each painting is entitled 'Detail'. The gallery will exhibit five 'Details' that each represents the crossing from one million to the other. In the New York gallery, three consecutive 'Details' will be on display as a triptych.
Since 1965, Roman Opalka has conveived a project that would become a life-long program: retranscribing a infinite series of numbers from one canvas to another. Each painting would be entitled 'Detail' and would bare the same dimensions. As one page of a book, each painting would be part of a whole entitlled "OPALKA 1965/1 -! ". This life-time project started when Roman Opalka painted in white the number 1 on the upper left part of the black canvas. If the start of this project is determined both in time and in its unit, the end is still open and will take place at the death of its author.
According to Roman Opalka, the conscience of one's own passing can only be transcend in the physical rendering of painting. Time is only 'one'. The artist doesn't transcribe dates unlike On Kawara, he attempts to translate time through a series of numbers that preserve their graphic and symbolic quality. For the artist, the #0 brush dipped in white paint helps retranscribe visually numbers that he pronounces out loud in his mother tongue (Polish) and recorded on tape. After each work session, Opalka always photographs himself in a white shirt and strong lighting facing his painting.
Starting 1972, Roman Opalka started introducing progressively some white paint in the black colour that he uses to paint the background of each painting. This progression will inevitably lead to the white monochrome, a fusion of form and content instaured by the daily ritual of the artist.
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