Galerie Perrotin recently opened an exhibition titled “XXI” featuring new works by French-Beninese artist Jeremy Demester.
The exhibition, which runs in Dubai until April 8, 2023, focuses on the processes of imitation and representation of nature, and is approached through a philosophical perspective and an intuitive attitude towards the aesthetic decisions necessary for his pictorial work.
Jeremy Demester seeks to reveal the subtle traces left by forgotten myths in our current everyday perceptions. With his vast knowledge gained from his Gypsy nomadic background, Jeremy Demester draws inspiration from protohistoric archaeology, the mythologies of all societies and elements of popular culture shared throughout the world.
Since the beginning of his artistic career, Jeremy Demester has painted skies and trees, two simple subjects drawn from nature that demonstrate his unlimited power of metamorphosis. For him, the observation of the thousands of colors and shades that the sky offers at each hour of the day or during the seasons has led him to an intense search for colors. Trees, for their part, also represent the source of an infinite number of possible forms.
Jeremy Demester‘s artistic approach is thus marked by a subtle mix of careful observation and instinctive creativity, creating a unique and fascinating pictorial world.
Jeremy Demester’s “XXI” exhibition: an exploration of myths and human complexity
The “XXI” exhibition features Jeremy Demester‘s “Stela” series, a beautiful illustration of the history of life and movement.
The nine compositions in this series are a synthesis of several of the artist’s earlier works, rejecting the distinction between landscape and abstraction.
In these paintings, skies, trees, rain and flames overlap and intertwine, creating a vivid color palette.
The pairs of eyes staring straight ahead, reminiscent of the signals placed on the back of trucks to warn drivers to be alert, create an eerie presence in the paintings, making a connection to the witnesses of ancient times.
The “Assembled-figures” series is a unique body of art that evokes hybrid, almost human beings through composite portraits.
Using objects from antiquity or our everyday lives on the paintings, Jeremy Demester creates composite portraits that resemble totems, embodying elements of our material culture and creating a network of fundamental references.
The painted canvases are extended by carved bas-reliefs, creating a striking visual effect that makes the portraits seem frozen in time, recalling the history of panel painting and the Italian Renaissance.
The exhibition “XXI” demonstrates Jeremy Demester’s extensive knowledge of the mythologies of all societies and elements of popular culture shared throughout the world and thus connects the Italian Renaissance to our contemporary culture.
Jeremy Demester proves that art can be a fusion of history, culture and creativity, creating unique and intriguing artworks that evoke hybrid, almost human beings through composite portraits.