Believe it or not, Ellsworth Kelly’s current show at Galerie Marian Goodman is the first show in Paris in twenty years. The last one, held in 1992 at the Musée du Jeu de Paume, was devised as a retrospective of the American artist’s years spent in the city between 1948 and 1954. In a more suggestive manner, the current exhibition also pays homage to Kelly’s Parisian days; it highlights the life-altering revelations and experiments he faced during that period, which marked the birth of his lifelong, multifaceted career.
The show consists of four paintings, each composed of two super-imposed panels. A white rectangular canvas is topped with an elliptical, coloured one in red, yellow, blue and green (a shade which, anecdotally, Piet Mondrian hated because it reminded him of nature). Lit using natural daylight only, the white layer seems to melt into the wall, giving a pop-out, 3D effect to the tinted curve.
The white segment acts as display stand, putting emphasis on the top curve and colour; the bareness of both canvases suggests the piece is a pared-down presentation of a timeless shape rather than an intimate interpretation – this trademark choice of anonymity is enhanced by the lack of signature or personalization.
A similar technique was first seen in his ‘Red, Yellow, Blue’ (1963), where the focus was placed on the piece’s presence rather than its individual features. “The square panels present colour. It was made to exist forever in the presence and can be repeated anytime in the future.” Kelly said of the piece.
As so often in Ellsworth Kelly’s work, the current show seems to cite his first ever abstract piece, ‘Window, Museum of Art’ (1949), which was inspired by a window of Paris’ Musée d’Art Moderne. The geometrical, double-panel piece marked the end of his figurative work, and the beginning of an endless questioning of the sculptural potential of a painting, and its relation to the wall it is displayed on.
These are not the only traces of his early Paris days – his first curves too were French-born. They were first seen in his 1949 ‘Kilometer Marker’, and ‘Relief with Blue’ – the latter originated from a sketch of Theatre Marigny’s curtains when held open. Over the years these never ceased to reinterpret the shape of leaves, arches and the human body.
Today, although his work has seen a glorious career worldwide, his desire for ‘Liberté’ remains – he eludes restrictive labels, as well as restrictions in space, colour and form. This might be the most lasting effect of his Paris days.
Ellsworth Kelly Until July 15th
Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris