ART
Roman Opalka |
Written 30 January |
Saturday 11 September, 10:00Galerie Yvon Lambert, 75003 [map]Roman Opalka
"I wanted to express time - the changes in its duration that divulge nature- in a way very personal to man, a subject conscious of his own presence defined by death. The emotion of life in an irreversible time." -Roman Opalka
Yvon Lambert presents Passages,
Roman Opalkaʼs first solo exhibition with the gallery. Passages features four large-scale paintings from Opalkaʼs seminal series “OPALKA 1965/1 - ∞ ”, including the artistʼs most recent work, which is still in the process of being completed.
Conceived by Opalka in 1965, the “OPALKA 1965/1 - ∞ ” project dictates the future of his painting, as the artist records the succession of numbers from one to infinity. The numbers progress from one canvas to the next, with the artist beginning each new painting where he finished the last. Each canvas, referred to by Opalka as a “Detail”, is of equal size. This project, on which the artist has worked exclusively for forty-five years, features 233 paintings to date.
This lifelong endeavor began when Opalka painted a small white numeral “one” on the upper left corner of a black canvas. For the artist, the #0 brush dipped in white paint helps visually log numbers, numbers that he also says out loud in Polish, his mother tongue, and records on tape. After each work session, Opalka photographs himself in a white shirt with strong lighting in front of his painting. In 1972, Opalka began gradually introducing white into the black background of each canvas. According to Opalka, the consciousness of one's own passing can only be transcended in the physical rendering of painting. The artist does not transcribe dates like
On Kawara, rather Opalka attempts to translate time through a series of numbers that preserve their graphic and symbolic qualities.
Roman Opalka was born in 1931 in Hocquincourt, France of Polish origins. He has lived and worked in France since 1977.
| What: | Roman Opalka |
| When: | Saturday 11 September, 10:00 |
| Where: | Galerie Yvon Lambert, 108, rue Vieille du Temple 75003 [map] |
| Transport: | Hôtel de Ville / St Paul |
| Cost: | 0EUR |
| Phone: | +33 (0)1 42 71 09 33 |
| Email: | paris@yvon-lambert.com |
| Web: | www.yvon-lambert.com |
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