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Temporary Surface
(ChaShaMa Space, NYC)
Temporary
Surface is a solo exhibition of recent paintings by French
artist, Robin Curtil. This exhibition
marks the artist’s debut solo presentation in New York. Temporary Surface continues Curtil’s exploration with paint and
impermanence. Tracing the temporality of space and time throughout his
immigration, these paintings are meditative reflections on his lived experience
in New York.
Curtil’s material interests
border on the alchemical, manipulating paint and combining it with non-traditional
materials with a sense of experimental wonder. Oil is used to pull textures
from the uneven surfaces of nearby tabletops, transforming common, everyday
objects into tools. The substrates themselves are discarded papers and posters
found along his daily commute. These humble materials, imprinted with their own
histories, consume, and transform the environment that Curtil inhabits. Through
labored gestures, these recycled papers are fossilized between layers of paint
and medium. Further engaging the specificity of place within his practice,
Curtil uses color taken from his immediate surroundings. Greens peel back to
reveal rich oxides read like layers of subway paint. These paintings hold
layers of transparent pigment that constantly push elusive forms in and out of
focus, nestling his work between abstraction and representation.
The process of gathering,
sorting, collating, and associating imagery permeates throughout the works
within Temporary Surface. Created
over the past two years and across multiple series of paintings, Curtil’s work
captures the immediacy and ephemerality of his time spent in the city. Each
piece evokes the aesthetics of both individual and collective memory through a
deep investigation into the act of painting.
Marissa Graziano, 2023
