Fatras, exhibition at the Château de Jau from June 25th to September 26th, 2021
Vincent Corpet is presenting ninety-one works at the Château de Jau, most of which have never been shown before. Some have been stretched for the occasion, having been kept on loose canvas since their creation. When Sabine Dauré and Régine de Boussac came to the studio to choose the content of the exhibition, in addition to a large Matrice painting from 2006 (6.56 × 23 ft) and another one based on old master paintings from 2011, they chose still lifes painted between 1984 and 1986 and landscapes of Brittany painted between 1985 and 1986. For, as always, Corpet delegates the choice of works. The still lifes were made from everyday objects that were to hand in his Parisian studio in the Cité Pilleux on the Avenue de SaintOuen: cigarette packet, ashtray, lighter, cheese grater, potato masher, pan, bottles, chopper, etc.—a lot of kitchen ustensils because the workshop was also used as a home: in 27 square metres: a kitchen and a workshop that could be transformed into a bedroom in the evening. All this junk is painted with a very matt finish, an effect due to the acrylics of the early 1980s. Some of the cartoons were to serve as matrices for future Crucifixions (1987). The landscapes were painted in Brittany, near the family holiday home, with scrupulous botanical care. The foliage of the trees is represented from the leaf of the species itself. One can recognise an oak, a horse chestnut and a chestnut tree. They are in a post-cubist and Fauvist style at the same time.These are singularities in Corpet’s work. They will allow aficionados to complete their knowledge of his artistic career, which is certainly one of the richest and most original of his time.