Collection d'art Société Générale
Sous le Motif
Jun. 30 2022
- Oct. 30 2022
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30/06/2022
30/10/2022
Europe/Brussels
Sous le Motif
This exhibition seeks to lift the veil on a selection of landmark works and pivotal moments in the history of abstract (or non-figurative) art, from the post-war period to the present day, in order to reveal some of its underlying structures, sources, and orientations. It invites viewers to look “under the motif” of abstraction, that is, beyond the forms and appearances of this aesthetic language. In doing so, it reverses the Impressionist principle of painting “from the motif” (sur le motif), produced outdoors with brushes and tubes of paint in hand.
Presented initially at La Défense and in Paris, the exhibition brings together nearly 90 artists whose paintings, sculptures, reliefs, drawings, films, installations, and environments, created between 1952 and 2022, are drawn both from the extensive Société Générale Art Collection and from exceptional loans. Featured artists range from Zao Wou-Ki and Naama Tsabar to Ann Veronica Janssens, Bernard Frize, Aurélie Nemours, Katharina Grosse, Takis, and Giorgio Griffa.
Following the era of pioneers such as Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, the exhibition demonstrates how abstract art has expanded and diversified over the past seven decades through the interplay and resonance of its many movements, periods, and sensibilities: geometric, gestural, and lyrical abstraction, Informalism, monochrome art, Op Art and kinetic art, Color Field painting, Hard-edge painting, perceptual art, Neo-Geo, and, more recently, the rich plurality of contemporary practices.
For a long time, abstract art was misunderstood by the general public, traditionally attached to figurative representation and mimesis; in other words, to the striking yet reassuring illusion of the “reality effect,” to borrow the expression of Paul Virilio. Across media and artistic approaches alike, abstraction’s visual motif was often perceived as an opaque veil, enigmatic and detached from any referent or connection to reality.
Through an exploration structured around key historical and stylistic articulations, the exhibition instead reveals the remarkable diversity of abstraction’s sources and ambitions: music, cognitive science, mathematics, information theory, cybernetics, geometry, cosmogony, philosophy, industry, chance, engineering, chemistry, optics, participation, the ready-made, dance, the phenomenology of perception, and many other fields besides.
Rather than presenting abstraction merely as a style or an aesthetic outcome, the exhibition approaches it as a form of speculation on the structures of the visible, a continuous questioning of our relationship to the often-authoritative and deceptive evidence of images, particularly in an age dominated by smartphone screens. Through a journey that combines iconic works with unexpected discoveries from the past seventy years of artistic creation, visitors are invited to venture under the motif and beyond appearances, exploring the vibrant experiences and imaginative worlds distilled by each artist.
17 cours Valmy 92972 La Défense France
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This exhibition seeks to lift the veil on a selection of landmark works and pivotal moments in the history of abstract (or non-figurative) art, from the post-war period to the present day, in order to reveal some of its underlying structures, sources, and orientations. It invites viewers to look “under the motif” of abstraction, that is, beyond the forms and appearances of this aesthetic language. In doing so, it reverses the Impressionist principle of painting “from the motif” (sur le motif), produced outdoors with brushes and tubes of paint in hand.
Presented initially at La Défense and in Paris, the exhibition brings together nearly 90 artists whose paintings, sculptures, reliefs, drawings, films, installations, and environments, created between 1952 and 2022, are drawn both from the extensive Société Générale Art Collection and from exceptional loans. Featured artists range from Zao Wou-Ki and Naama Tsabar to Ann Veronica Janssens, Bernard Frize, Aurélie Nemours, Katharina Grosse, Takis, and Giorgio Griffa.
Following the era of pioneers such as Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, the exhibition demonstrates how abstract art has expanded and diversified over the past seven decades through the interplay and resonance of its many movements, periods, and sensibilities: geometric, gestural, and lyrical abstraction, Informalism, monochrome art, Op Art and kinetic art, Color Field painting, Hard-edge painting, perceptual art, Neo-Geo, and, more recently, the rich plurality of contemporary practices.
For a long time, abstract art was misunderstood by the general public, traditionally attached to figurative representation and mimesis; in other words, to the striking yet reassuring illusion of the “reality effect,” to borrow the expression of Paul Virilio. Across media and artistic approaches alike, abstraction’s visual motif was often perceived as an opaque veil, enigmatic and detached from any referent or connection to reality.
Through an exploration structured around key historical and stylistic articulations, the exhibition instead reveals the remarkable diversity of abstraction’s sources and ambitions: music, cognitive science, mathematics, information theory, cybernetics, geometry, cosmogony, philosophy, industry, chance, engineering, chemistry, optics, participation, the ready-made, dance, the phenomenology of perception, and many other fields besides.
Rather than presenting abstraction merely as a style or an aesthetic outcome, the exhibition approaches it as a form of speculation on the structures of the visible, a continuous questioning of our relationship to the often-authoritative and deceptive evidence of images, particularly in an age dominated by smartphone screens. Through a journey that combines iconic works with unexpected discoveries from the past seventy years of artistic creation, visitors are invited to venture under the motif and beyond appearances, exploring the vibrant experiences and imaginative worlds distilled by each artist.
Presented initially at La Défense and in Paris, the exhibition brings together nearly 90 artists whose paintings, sculptures, reliefs, drawings, films, installations, and environments, created between 1952 and 2022, are drawn both from the extensive Société Générale Art Collection and from exceptional loans. Featured artists range from Zao Wou-Ki and Naama Tsabar to Ann Veronica Janssens, Bernard Frize, Aurélie Nemours, Katharina Grosse, Takis, and Giorgio Griffa.
Following the era of pioneers such as Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, the exhibition demonstrates how abstract art has expanded and diversified over the past seven decades through the interplay and resonance of its many movements, periods, and sensibilities: geometric, gestural, and lyrical abstraction, Informalism, monochrome art, Op Art and kinetic art, Color Field painting, Hard-edge painting, perceptual art, Neo-Geo, and, more recently, the rich plurality of contemporary practices.
For a long time, abstract art was misunderstood by the general public, traditionally attached to figurative representation and mimesis; in other words, to the striking yet reassuring illusion of the “reality effect,” to borrow the expression of Paul Virilio. Across media and artistic approaches alike, abstraction’s visual motif was often perceived as an opaque veil, enigmatic and detached from any referent or connection to reality.
Through an exploration structured around key historical and stylistic articulations, the exhibition instead reveals the remarkable diversity of abstraction’s sources and ambitions: music, cognitive science, mathematics, information theory, cybernetics, geometry, cosmogony, philosophy, industry, chance, engineering, chemistry, optics, participation, the ready-made, dance, the phenomenology of perception, and many other fields besides.
Rather than presenting abstraction merely as a style or an aesthetic outcome, the exhibition approaches it as a form of speculation on the structures of the visible, a continuous questioning of our relationship to the often-authoritative and deceptive evidence of images, particularly in an age dominated by smartphone screens. Through a journey that combines iconic works with unexpected discoveries from the past seventy years of artistic creation, visitors are invited to venture under the motif and beyond appearances, exploring the vibrant experiences and imaginative worlds distilled by each artist.
17 cours Valmy,
92972 La Défense, France
http://www.collectionsocietegenerale.com/en/
92972 La Défense, France