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Exclusive interview with Bernard Blistène : Soulages at the Gianadda Foundation by Chloé Guennou "we wanted to create a certain chronological disorder and not a principle of linearity which Soulages himself refutes" B. Blistène... Bernard Blistène, director of the Musée National d'Art Moderne and curator of the Soulages retrospective, which brings together an unpublished collection of works from 1946 to 2017 at the Pierre Gianadda Foundation, looks back at the genesis of this project with the artist. He also spoke about the ties that unite him with Leonard Gianadda at the origin of this unique and singular Foundation which celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2018. 1. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Centre Pompidou last year, the exhibition "Les Soulages" was held at the Museum. How is this retrospective complementary and original? A different context: This exhibition differs first of all from the nature of the place, the Soulages museum in Rodez having been built with and to host the work of the master because as you know the relationship between the nature of the materials of the architecture and the work has been thought in a form of totality. I'm very interested in the relationship that is established here between a very different architecture and all the works presented. As you have noticed the building designed by Leonard Gianadda, made of concrete and stone and organized around an archaeological site, it is likely that in Soulages' sources of inspiration both architecture and archaeology are quite evident. He mentioned it about the small Fenaille museum in Rodez. I like very much this minerality, this brutality of the architecture of the Gianadda Foundation, built as a memorial in memory of the dead brother or as a zigurat, a temple around this archaeological site. In addition to this we have gathered all the works in the collection, some of which are on deposit at the Rodez Museum, which we have returned. New lighting: There was, as we worked with Camille Morando, researcher and co-curator, the opportunity both to show the approach as a whole and also to show Soulages' more recent work. However, our collection ends in 2012, not having had the opportunity to bring in works from this period, which are exceptional in the research on materials, the work on the contrasts between the matte nature of the surfaces and the very brilliance of the depths, which is almost of the archaeological order. 2. How long have Leonard Gianadda's links with the Centre Pompidou been going back? These are ancient ties. Forty years ago now Leonard Gianadda decided to create the foundation as he himself was a collector but not compulsively. He had the idea of introducing 20th century art to this remote Swiss valley. We have very regularly mounted exhibitions with him, the last one before last was devoted to Matisse. There's a real generosity and something very intimate about him that changes you from the relationships you have from one big museum to another, and for me it's essential to build exhibitions on different scales and that maintain different types of relationships with the public, which implies a real educational work. He still managed, as he pointed out yesterday in a remote place 1 hour from Lausanne, to gather some 10 million visitors, which is very remarkable. In addition to this his great open-mindedness and capacity for enthusiasm which remain intact as in the beginning. 3. Did Pierre Soulages and his wife intervene in the genesis of the exhibition and at what stage? Of course, when we decided to respond to Leonard's request, we met with Pierre and Colette Soulages who expressed a desire to show the most recent work. But the artist has realized that it is rare to be able to deploy an entire collection in one place. The rooms of the museum for all the practical reasons that we know do not allow it, we decided to add other works and Pierre intervened for the catalog, the choice of the cover for at some point let us do. The catalogue is rather singular because it proposes, and I insisted on this to Camille Morando, to make a card per work, it being important to make a precise and structural reading of each work, otherwise people have the feeling that Soulages is none other than a painter of black. However, his approach is much more subtle, complex with evolutionary phases. 4. If you had to choose a work ... I would go back to my first love of the time when I was young at the National Museum of still on Avenue du Président Wilson to see this great painting "Peinture du 12 mars 1968", one of the most ascetic paintings of that period, black and white, without seeing the slightest concordance with the events that occurred at that very moment, some say that Soulages was necessarily aware of what was going on. I perceive an extraordinary mastery of the surface on a scale that is obviously that of the body. One can also read Soulages' relationship to painting in this purely physical dimension. I have always loved this painting and would have liked to see people dancing in front of it, because of the choreographic dimension of its gesture, as in some other earlier paintings such as the one from 1963, also exhibited here. 5. In what way does the wager of this retrospective seem successful to you? The great thing about this retrospective is that it allows us to follow the very genesis of the work, since the very structure of the building forces us to move from room to room, which gives us a rare opportunity to follow the works one after the other with the help of critical analysis and theoretical commentary. This is all the more remarkable as Soulages has been given by the gods the chance to work for nearly 75 years, one of the longest lifetimes known. Soulages A Retrospective In collaboration with the Centre Pompidou Prolonged exposure until January 13, 2019 Every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Catalogue (on sale at the bookstore-boutique) The catalogue brings together, under the preface of Léonard Gianadda and that of Serge Lasvignes (president of the Centre Pompidou), texts by Bernard Blistène, Camille Morando, Benoît Decron, director of the Museums of Rodez agglomeration including the Soulages Museum, and that of Natalie Adamson, professor of art history at the University of St-Andrews/Scotland. The book also includes 26 notices of works, a biography, a selective bibliography and an anthology of Pierre Soulages' works. Rates : Adults: CHF 20.-, EUR 16.50 01 Oct 2018 #Fondation Gianadda copyright: All rights reserved

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