Following his first solo show in London, The Triumph of Sign and the installation on the Pont Neuf in Paris, Astronomy Domine, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac now brings us The Tyranny of Beauty at La B.A.N.K Gallery. Keeping with the same obsession, for the past 40 years, Castelbajac has been using reworks and appropriations to create bridges between practice and symbolism to trigger questions and evoke a kind of emotional nostalgia.
The tyranny in question is that of an insatiable need to please, of youth’s domination, of a quest for immortality and of the denial of time past.
His aim is to demonstrate that everyone can do beauty and good, like in the Snow White syndrome in a series of Flanders tapestries.
Castelbajac adds trait, logo, sign or brand obliteration to classic master paintings. As if creams, capsules or other artifices could open up a path to eternal youth and stamp their radiant faces with indelible copyrights.?
The oil paintings are based on ancestral techniques. They reduce to the state of manufacture a selection of Western Art’s masterpieces. By reproducing works from our heritage, the artist reclaims History and images of beauty at their height of refinement.
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac & his son Louis-Marie
September 12 to October 23
La B.A.N.K
42, rue Volta
75003 Paris
More Info www.jc-de-castelbajac.com & www.bankgalerie.com
