Presented as a retrospective, the presentation of the works of an artist barely 40 years old might well have been premature. But this exhibition to the origin of this book has made it possible to bring together, for the first time in France, a huge selection of his works, thus offering a reading extending to the different practices of the picture which hallmark his project, while putting the emphasis on a good many of his recent works.
The catalogue offers readers an in-depth understanding of Dominique Figarella's artistic project. By shedding light, turn by turn, on the project's motivations, challenges, characteristics, directions and priorities, defined by the practices it has given rise to over the past 15 years or so, the following pages encompass writings whose styles and statuses have been devised as both distinctive and complementary.
In addition to an essay by Dominique Figarella, it includes different texts and interviews. The first contributions, written by Catherine Perret, offer two distinct analyses of this artist's work. One was written explicitly in relation to LiFE exhibition, singling out from it certain features and consequences with regard to the broader context of practices making up artistic modernity, and our present period ; the other was written for a previous show of Dominique Figarella's works held at Le Quartier, the contemporary art centre in Quimper, which has generously allowed us to use it here. Lastly, two interviews conducted for this publication home in, at precise dates, on the material and substantial nature of the practices of the “tableau” at work in Dominique Figarella's œuvre, and situate the challenges based on which this artist conceives his project.