Bruno Perramant
If I Forget Thee, Paris
September 11th – November 6th 2004
“Upon the rivers…Upon the willows…” is the beginning of the 137th Psalm that was the basis for the title of William Faulkner’s “If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem.” By an odd coincidence it’s also the theme of Bruno Perramant’s recent works on show now at GEM, in The Hague.
The title of the exhibition takes Faulkner’s Jerusalem and replaces it with Paris. The obvious reference is to exile or the modern impossibilities of exile. The void of such a “house arrest” becomes the driving force for Perramant. Normally inspired by the places he has been, this time the artist brings together a group of works where all the characters are seen from the window of his studio. As surprising as it seems, the varied compositions of lovers, the white dome, the fireworks, Paris by night, etc, are really only the result focusing on what appears to be a clear cut and nimble view of our surroundings.
A further use of the color black undertaken in the Demoiselles series (shown two years ago at the gallery), the display of landscapes (FRAC Auvergne 2003 and FRAC Alsace 2004), or the persistent exploration of light, all intersect in this show and encourage an understanding of the set of connections in the artist’s work. Each new exhibition uncovers the meaning of the one before it and inaugurates the next. Perramant obviously considers this exhibition as an enhancement to his one man show at The Hague Museum, where the idea of heaven and the “principle of delights” inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” are an important part of his approach.
A catalog available at the gallery will be published on the occasion of the exhibition with essays by Roel Arkesteijn, Cyril Jarton, Bruno Perramant and Évence Verdier.
