There is moment when the night becomes visible in the light

"There is moment when the night becomes visible in the light"

from Thursday, February 1, 2024 to Saturday, April 13, 2024

14 rue des Jardins Saint-Paul 75004 Paris

Galerie XII Paris is pleased to present "There is a moment when the night becomes visible in the light," its first group exhibition of the year. This recurring initiative will bring together invited and represented artists for a dialogue on contemporary photography.

The seven artists featured in this initial proposal share a photographic style that questions the power of image representation. Centered around a theme inspired by the words of Paul Valéry, "There is a moment when it seems that the night becomes visible in the light*," they redefine the concept of photography. While they have chosen it as a mode of expression, their fascination lies not so much in the image itself but in its construction, physical presence, and materiality. They interpret it, use it, and surpass it to present it differently. The question is not about the image but rather its ability to metamorphose and be reborn in another form.

Fabien Ducrot addresses the subject through archival images and artificial intelligence. Photographs from the 19th century archives, generated and compiled by the thousands, give rise to images imbued with a new materiality. While AI shapes the unreal and questions the very notion of an image, Fabien Ducrot employs traditional salt printing processes that lend a new texture to the images.

Materials and images are constantly redefined by Charlotte Mano, who stages her mental images, memories, and sensations through photography. Drawn to elements outside this realm and keen on experimenting with the limits of the tool – the camera – she creates works in which images and textures are inseparable. Thus, a new, tactile dimension emerges, disrupting our relationship with the sensory.

The question of the image as an object is also present in the work of Anne Pharel, who photographs impalpable visual moments whose images nevertheless bear witness to their existence. An exploration of the sensitive matter and its consistency through flat or volumetric works.

Alexandre Aldavert and Sabatina Leccia also consider the print as a material, complemented by manual intervention or intellectual thought. It is a step in the creative process. Associated with writing and poetry for him, perforation and embroidery for her, the print disappears as such. It undergoes a metamorphosis to be reborn in another form.

In contrast, and with a more classical approach to photography, the work of Andrei Farcasanu unfolds around intimacy through small-format works. He questions the materiality of the work through technical craftsmanship. Multiple images can arise from the same shot, each bearing a different materiality based on chemistry. A pursuit shared by Didier Juteau, whose images strip the viewer of visual certainties as photography and material merge.

A convergence of visual worlds where the darkness of the night is a recurring theme. It is around this darkness that artists envision photography, its forms, and physical presence. These are artists for whom it is essential to strip images of their initial meaning and thus offer viewers new poetic realities.