Pierre-Olivier Arnaud

Pierre-Olivier Arnaud was born in 1972. He lives and works in Lyon. His work is based on the image, that is to say the image as a motif but which tends to disappear. He questions the status that the images he collects can have, a status that is relatively blurry because of the very precariousness of these motifs and their identity. Perhaps this is why the artist does not define himself as a photographer, who takes an image for what it is and gives it to be seen in an immediate and literal way. On the contrary, it is with the invisible, fragile qualities of images, in their non-obviousness and in the representations and interpretations they can give rise to, that Pierre-Olivier Arnaud works with. Moving away from a concrete look at the image, he produces a multitude of often abstract motifs, almost always in black and white, blurring our established vision and “de-sublimating” the visible. The image thus dissolves “at first reducing the motif to bring us, in the next stage, to get closer to it and look at it in detail”. The artist’s works are a somewhat dark, direct and honest vision of the world: inviting us to look at things differently, going beyond the evidence of glossy aesthetics and penetrating the identity itself of an image. ...

To avoid any narcissism the gallery will not bear a name, but instead mark of the end of a century during which the Fine Arts are exhausted of unknown practices and forms, Art: Concept was born. In 1997, the gallery joined its friends in the 13th district of Paris to be part of the adventure of the brand new rue Louise Weiss. Despite unforgettable years in this district, the move to the Marais was inevitable. Today, the gallery is located in a private passage (passage Sainte Avoye) and represents artists with whom it has been working for 25 years as well as young graduates. Trying to reflect the evolution of society, the gallery emphasises its proposals in a multi-faceted reflection on individuality and collectivity in a wide range of contexts. Like Janus, it looks both to the past and the future. Today's world is so in need of reference points that it's reassuring to invent a future, thanks to artists, as well as to compare it to the past. We invite you to ask for it, we will be at the gallery, very happy to explain it to you. ...