Ankoku — Matières Noires — Da-End Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: November 8 → December 20, 2014

In the same way as scientists try to determinate the fundamental laws of the Universe, the artists — through their aesthetic practices, dream and read into the world in order to re-integrate us into it as human beings. But can one make visible some complex elements whose physical reality remains unexplainable?

The enigma of dark matter, so far unsolvable, arouses the fascination of astrophysicists and could be an interesting theme for the artists, who give pride of place to metaphysical questionings. Considering that only 1% of the constituent matter of the Universe can be identified, how can we comprehend the unseizable dark matter and dark energy of which the remaining 99% are made of ?

Minsa You, Embryo, 2014 C-print — 900 × 600 mm — edition of 2 Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Da-End

On the occasion of Ankoku / Dark Matters, its new group exhibition dedicated to Japanese creation, the Galerie Da-End invites nine contemporary artists to metaphorically illustrate this great mystery through their photographic and plastic works.

The photographers of this exhibition, Daïdo Moriyama, Satoki Nagata, Satoshi Saïkusa, Takeshi Shikama, Daisuke Yokota and Minsa You share a distinct taste for arduous manipulations, whether they use optical techniques during the photo-shoot or intervene directly on the photographic print. As a result, they create sensitive artworks, in which the perception of subjects is disrupted. Here, the matter defies the plain surface of the print.

Satoshi Saikusa, Corps éthérique I, 2014 Tirage C-print, découpé et épinglé dans boite entomologique, papillons, insectes — 1130 × 1795 mm — one piece Courtesy of the artist & Galerie Da-End

More over, the stellar or organic-inspired canvases of painter Mitsuru Tateishi are created thanks to a skilful and secret technique invented by the artist, which can remind of the alchemists’ ancestral experimentations.

Their dark and liquid-like texture echoes back to the ferrofluids that Sachiko Kodama places at the core of her artistic production. A captivating matter developed by NASA, ferrofluids refer to the domain of quantum physics, while evoking the subtle forms of Nature, that immutably disintegrate and regenerate.

Passionate about mathematics, for his part, Toshimasa Kikuchi reproduces thanks to traditional sculpture techniques the universal lines of 19th century geometrical models. He also creates startling wooden Vanitas that confront the human viewer to his mortal condition.

This ontological reflection about the cycle of Life is also present in the work of sculptor Mihoko Ogaki, who uses cosmical metaphors to objectivize her inner experiences.

In the project room

Conceived in a palpable and ultra-colored material, the insallation of Japanese artist Saeborg, famous member of the Rubber-furries underground community, will drag us out of the black hole.