Matthieu Palud at Good or Trash

Artist: Matthieu Palud

Exhibition title: Peintures récentes

Curated by: Reine Aliénor

Venue: Good or Trash, Paris, France

Date: January 18 – February 11, 2024

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Good or Trash, Paris

Back to nature to a city apartment…

This is the atmosphere in which Matthieu Palud has painted this series of portraits.

They’re very simple, almost Jansenist. As are many of his subjects, even if this is not entirely true. He has this astonishing ability to move from extremely gaudy, chaotic subjects, rich in signs – where paint often drools – to refined compositions focused on objects, à la Morandi. These portraits, then, are of female models posing in front of windows creating a strong backlight. They all obey this layout, even if the suave tones and hushed ambience do not denote any imperative, as the repetition seems to have been natural to their execution. This delicate chiaroscuro gives few clues as to the identity of the models, as their facial details are plunged into shadow, although we can sometimes make out a smile, a fleeting expression or a sidelong glance. One wonders if the subject isn’t the colored background (the curtain patterns contributing to the room’s darkness), so much so that these dark silhouettes draw the eye back to the gaudy, shimmering color of the textiles, or the veils, real or imagined, in front of the window. They have the simplicity of icons.

Gentle brushstrokes, soft lines and a certain fragility in the medium used should be reassuring. Yet these portraits scare me a little, and not just because his models hide from us through the pictorial touch. They generate anxiety because they seem to be in the process of changing from angel to demon, as if on the threshold of a state of mutation whose consequences we cannot determine. And there’s something frightening about the simplicity of this softness.

Like an anomaly, a painting has been added to this series of portraits. It’s another portrait, more legible, more classical, almost sculptural. Matthieu leads us into a new phase, reminiscent of others in the past, but not exactly.