Narrative Bodies and Intimacy in Contemporary Figurative Painting

Today, figurative painting does not necessarily seem to offer itself up for renewal: references to past and present may be combined to create heterochronic compositions that, in a logic of continuity, elicit an affective rather than intellectual reception. Following this perspective, does the interest in figurative painting indicate a genuine revival or a simple aesthetic choice that has always existed, capable of conveying the emotional essence of a work? By examining the work of three contemporary classical painters, I will analyze the elements that create this emotional encounter. In the works of French painter Guillaume Bresson, what is striking is the obscurity and realism of his compositions. There is something Caravaggesque about his touch: the lines are modulated through a play of light and shadow that confers a dramatic note on the realistic contexts. This approach lends an almost ceremonious dimension to his compositions, from which a latent softness emanates — due, notably, to the use of a uniform ashen palette—creating a paradox with the violent media images that they reference. There is no undue sordidness or aggressivity in these paintings; instead, naturalism and sacrality intermingle at the heart of urban landscapes: an underground parking lot, a highway rest area, or a dilapidated room form the backdrops. The brushwork supports the choreographic expressivity of the ghostly figures — without focusing specifically on their faces — as they react to one another. This subdued intensity is held up by a meticulous pictorial technique, which lends the classic scenography something of The Last Supper. This is particularly evident in paintings from 2012, which portray animated groups of men who seem to have met up for a nocturnal confab. Strictly speaking, in Bresson’s work there is no question of revising the rules of the genre to distort a traditional style. Rather, it’s the use of these rules with the aim of conjuring a collective imaginary and of playing with the mental images that Western education and the media forge that is of importance here. Tumultuous street scenes, intimate documentary, and Christian iconography are some elements inspired by everyday life that populate Bresson’s work. Guillaume BressonSans titre, 170 × 300 cm, 2008. Photo : Bertrand Huet/Tutti image, permission de | courtesy of the artist & Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles Guillaume BressonSans titre, 202 × 138 cm, 2019. Photo : Bertrand Huet/Tutti image, permission de | courtesy of the artist & Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris/Bruxelles American painter Colleen Barry uses the skin tones and a graphic style reminiscent of 17th-century Dutch painting. Respecting the codes of the period, her works could easily be mistaken for being from that era. The enigmatic expressions, the tabulated background whose sterility marshals the gaze, and the portrait genre are all details that, in the words of Paul Claudel, have a “mathematical candour”Pierre-Marie Auzas, “La peinture hollandaise vue par Fromentin et par Claudel,” Bulletin de la Société Paul Claudel, no. 96 (1984): 3 – 6. 3-16.and cultivate temporal ambiguity. Nevertheless, the primary objective seems to be not to return to a so-called authentic technique, but to represent figures that, through their singularity or beauty, have caught the eye of the artist and marked her life. The profoundly human nature of her subjects is highlighted by the contrast between the often sombre background palette and the vivid embodiment of the figure portrayed: the inflection of light emphasizes the delicacy of facial features and its precision subtly captures the subject’s interior world. The viewer is — without being passive — held in a waiting stance, like the subject portrayed. As in the works of Vermeer, the master of the medium, the mystery remains intact; the viewer approaches without penetrating the work. Whether they belong to her mother, her friends, or Barry herself, these feminine faces impose themselves disturbingly through their realism or magnetic aura, thus marking a pause in time and in exhibition space. Colleen BarrySelf-Portrait with green shirt, 30,5 × 30,5 cm, 2019.Photo : permission de l’artiste | courtesy of the artist As can be seen in the literary works of contemporary authors such as Christine Angot, Elena Ferrante, and Emma Becker, painting can serve as a tool for investing and exposing intimacy. One painter to exploit the private sphere as a source of inspiration is George Rorris; his paintings present themselves as timid invitations to penetrate the secret universe of the portrayed. The almost neurasthenic restraint of these purely human subjects, whose bodies depict their woes, imbues them with a sensitive power: they seem impervious to the incisive gaze of the viewer or to the voyeuristic pleasure that they might provoke. The nebulous aesthetic, the gaze plunged into a cosmic void, and the nude body together present eroticism in a morbid light—like the duality described by Georges BatailleBataille explores this particular duality as the conflict between piety and impiety, associating desire with morbidity. In transgressive fashion, this paradoxical pairing introduces the notion of scopic drive. See Georges Bataille, Eroticism (London: Calder, 1962). – drawing the dynamic process between the instincts of life and death. The extremely textured aspect of the paintings makes the carnal envelope palpable—you almost want to retrace its contours with your fingers, creating a tactile relationship between viewer and artwork. Yet the dark, anxiety-provoking spaces seem to censure desire, evoking instead an empathic response. This tension between pathological solitude and libidinal energy penetrates each painting as a leitmotif; in this sense, Rorris is reminiscent of modern expressionists such as Lucian Freud and Edvard Munch, who, by portraying raw flesh to define the neuroses afflicting the model, also render matter expressive. George RorrisEleni at night, 215 × 205 cm, 2012-2014.Photo : Leonidas Dimakopoulos, permission de l’artiste | courtesy of the artist George RorrisSelf-Portrait, 117 × 155 cm, 2003. Photo : Leonidas Dimakopoulos, permission de l’artiste | courtesy of the artist The virtuosity of these painters is clearly noteworthy, but it’s undoubtedly the sensitive narrativity of their paintings that make them stand out. Their savoir-faire does not merely imitate that of their predecessors: it draws directly on art history to share a vision of humanity and the internal and external conflicts that animate us. In this regard, painting gives access to fragments of the subjects’ internal monologues, while that which is concealed stimulates the imagination by an ellipse. Figurative art could, in this sense, satisfy viewers’ current taste for an aestheticized and romanticized vision of the private sphere; nevertheless, these paintings do not demonstrate, they only suggest, pointing to the partial nature of the artistic language. This partiality highlights the inherent unfathomable quality of intimacy and subjective experience. A vector for social storytelling (Bresson), biography (Barry), and neuroticism (Rorris), figuration in painting allows the viewer to penetrate worlds both strange and familiar. As an artistic vehicle, it can soften the sometimes violent encounter between humans and their psychic and physiological materiality. In an interview on France Culture, Guillaume Bresson underlines the danger of “too-conscious intent”Marie Richeux, “Guillaume Bresson: ‘C’est dangereux dans la peinture figurative d’avoir une intention trop consciente,’” interview with Guillaume Bresson, Par les temps qui courent, France Culture, May 30, 2019, accessible online. in the artistic process, on a visual and social level. Indeed, transmitting an explicit image may seem like a vain and radical illustration of part of reality. Yet the artists discussed here are not using figuration as a caustic critique of the human condition, preferring to concentrate on the affective dimension. This pictorial human condition is timeless; the contemporary viewpoint seems to evolve based on artistic subjectivity rather than a will to revive academic codes to keep up with the times. Translated from the French by Louise Ashcroft Colleen Barry, George Rorris, Guillaume Bresson, Sûrya Buis

Narrative Bodies and Intimacy in Contemporary Figurative Painting

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