John Murphy, Bernd Lohaus, Peter Joseph, José Pedro Croft — Bernard Bouche Gallery — Exhibition — Slash Paris

Past: April 9 → May 14, 2016

John Murphy

St Albans, England, 1945

John Murphy’s practice can be characterised through his use of existing material and re-presenting previously exhibited works in different configurations potentially generating new meanings. His work often communicates themes of nostalgia, absence and sexuality with a subtle and exquisite gift for exactitude. The artist is preoccupied with the relationship between vision, things and language whilst playing on the theme of similarity and difference. One person shows include Acquisitions from the late 90s, Tate Britain, London 1998; A Conversation Piece with Juilâo Sarmento, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; John Murphy Whitechapel Art Gallery, London 1987-88; Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol 1988; The Way Up and The Way Down, Southampton City Art Gallery and Museum, Southampton; A Portrait of the Artist as a Deaf Man, The Douglas Hyde Gallery Dublin 1996, John Murphy, Villa Arson Nice 1997, And Things Throw Light of Things, Ikon Gallery and Barber Institute, Birmingham, 2004-05, Trondheim Kunstmuseum 2013. A monograph devoted to the artist will be published by Ridinghouse, London, in 2017.

Bernd Lohaus

Düsseldorf 1940 — Anvers 2010

Bernd Lohaus mainly used wood, stone and paper in his work. On the pieces of wood that he found, Lohaus would add small things such as short texts, whereby the interaction between the objects in relation to each other and in relation to the space was of great importance. Lohaus also used language as an element in several of his works. In his work he would investigate the relationship between the artist, the viewer and the artwork.Recent solo exhibitions include Fremdkörper, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp, Belgium 2014 and MAC’s Grand Hornu, Musée des Arts Contemporains, Hornu, Belgium.

Vue de l’exposition à la Galerie Bernard Bouche

Peter Joseph

London, 1929

In his earlier, more geometrically constructed works, each colour, seen alone or in duo, is characterized by its curiosity, by its brightness, by its capacity to awaken senses and to provoke emotions. Eminently retinal, his painting, without belonging to any particular movement, shows close affinity with Minimalism and American Color-Field, while broadening its field of expansion and expression. His works are endowed with a sense of great freshness, freedom and vitality. His most recent works present a veil of natural elegance where the touch becomes dynamic and loose leaving some part of canvas untouched thus creating something new and emotional. He lives and works in Stroud, United Kingdom. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions worldwide, including shows at the Tate Gallery and Arts Council of Great Britain, in London; in Kunsthaus, Zurich; at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam; at the Walker Art Gallery in Minneapolis; at the Fogg Art Museum in Philadelphia and at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Among his more important personal works are the ones presented at the Hayward Gallery in London, at the MoCA in Chicago and at the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford.

José Pedro Croft

Oporto, 1957

José Pedro Croft diverts daily objects from their original function. What interests him is a feeling of precarious balance between stable and unstable which, according to the artist, «reflects the transitional nature of the world». His sculptures create a complex dialogue with the environment, by means of simple, almost minimalist structures, which combine both the materiality of the object and its formal aspects. Sometimes, his sculptures are strengthened by the use of vivid colours, which are applied so to suggest a perception of the sculpture as a bas-relief. Furthermore, Croft uses mirrors and glass to play with light effects, shadow and reflections in order to create new volumes and an altered sense of space. José Pedro Croft has exhibited extensively across Portugal, Spain and South America including solo exhibitions at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Serralves Foundation, the Berardo Collection, the National Museum Centre of Art Reina Sofia, the Pinacotheca of the State of São Paulo, and at the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro.