洛朗·格拉索 LAURENT GRASSO：TIME LEAVES

展覽日期：2023年5月10日至2023年7月15日 星期二至星期六，上午11時至下午7時 地點：TAO ART（台北市內湖區洲子街79-1號8樓） 開幕酒會：2023年 5 月10 日下午4 時

「當倒影出現於我們眼前時，它們已屬於過去。我在作品中長期使用銀墨，而現在也會運用銀箔構成的銀色背景上作畫。圖像的出現或消失，取決於觀察的角度，如同過去對未來的映照。讓我感興趣的正是這種微妙而令人眩暈的時間游移。」 —— 洛朗·格拉索 

TAO ART將於今年五月推出法國觀念藝術家洛朗•格拉索（Laurent Grasso, b. 1972）於台灣的首度個展「TIME LEAVES」。格拉索是當代最活躍而突出的藝術家之一，於巴黎生活與創作，這次展覽精選出其知名系列作品，包括《奧托》（OttO）、《研究過去》（Studies into the Past）、《未來植物集》（Future Herbarium）及《潘諾普忒斯》（Panoptes），匯聚了繪畫、雕塑、影像、霓虹燈裝置等多種媒介。他的創作實踐涉及對藝術史、時間、自然科學、視覺機制等議題的探索，運用新科技來演繹神聖（sacred）和無形（invisible）的概念。透過泛靈信仰及超自然現象等取徑，他嘗試讓無形事物具現眼前，創造迷宮般的神秘氛圍挑戰觀者所知與所感之邊界。 

《奧托》這件影像作品最初受第21屆雪梨雙年展委託創作，是藝術家與瓦魯庫蘭谷藝術家原住民協會（Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation）及「傳統擁有者」（traditional owner） Yuendumu 社群合作，在澳洲沙漠「北領地」的原住民聖地拍攝而成。格拉索希望藉由紅外線熱像儀、高光譜相機及空拍機等科技工具，捕捉這些聖地所散發的電磁輻射或能量。影片中充滿未來感的神秘透明球體，以向下俯瞰視角穿梭於遼闊荒涼的沙漠之間，揭示出一種超自然地圖學，一種重新想像和思考世界的方式，讓人重新發掘眼前景觀中潛在的深意。

始於2009年的《研究過去》（Studies Into the Past）系列也提供了觀看世界的嶄新之道。電影《奧托》中的飄浮球體似乎穿越螢幕，出現於油畫作品中，折射出某種虛構的真實。藝術家循著對時間的關注與沈思，將場景設定於十六至十八世紀，創造出彷彿在藝術史上曾經存在的作品，予人似曾相識的錯覺。

展覽中格拉索也帶來同系列中另一個重要題材，將歷史肖像畫蓋以銀箔，只露出雙眼與它們幽靈般的神秘注視。「人們之所以對美術館著迷，是因為他們在觀看著人物肖像的同時也被觀察著……來自不同時期的不同眼睛正在注視我們，這種想法更具有普遍性。與其說是關於視覺本身，不如說是關於凝視，」格拉索說。「潘諾普忒斯」（Panoptes）系列這件大型霓虹燈作品《無題 Untitled》彷彿凝視著觀者，啟發觀者進行意識的轉換與反思：是誰在看誰？潘諾普忒斯意為「全視」（all-seeing），指的是希臘神話中的百眼巨人。眼睛是貫穿了格拉索創作脈絡的一個重要主題，暗示著我們如何不斷地組織自身視覺經驗並形成意義與觀點這個不可見的過程。

格拉索的《未來植物集》系列（Future Herbarium），靈感來自日本福島核事故造成的變種花卉。他以十八世紀植物圖鑑風格，以繪畫及雕刻呈現一系列造型殊異的花朵，優雅中隱含著讓人略感不安的美。展覽名稱「TIME LEAVES」指向了時間之流逝，其中蘊含著隨著時間不斷演變繁殖的多重敘事可能性。透過對這些宏大奧秘主題的想像與重構，格拉索的藝術實踐召喚出一種讓人再次對世界感到驚畏的力量。

創辦人Vicky表示，「我在收藏格拉索的一件經典巨尺幅金色屏風作品時，就愛上了他的創作概念。2016年在東京銀座的Maison Hermès Le Forum第一次看到他的展覽，作品融合了過去、現在與未來，穿梭於歷史和神話之間，與我們古今交錯的藝術收藏很有呼應與共鳴。2019年我在紐約看了《Otto》展覽，那天剛好是我生日，內心深受震撼並許下願望，心心念念想把這件作品也帶來台灣展 覽。很開心終於能把這個我們準備已久的展覽分享給大家。」

關於洛朗·格拉索 LAURENT GRASSO

洛朗·格拉索生於1972年，在法國巴黎生活與工作。他的作品透過多種的媒材揭示不同的尺度與時間性。他質疑博物館的結構、藝術史、自然與文化議題及科技的各項主張。主要個展包括： 《加科納》(Gakona) 於巴黎東京宮(2009)；《黑盒子》(Black Box)於華盛頓特區赫希洪博物館和雕塑花園(2011)；《一位年輕男子的肖像》(Portrait of a Young Man)於邁阿密巴斯美術館(2011)；《烏拉尼堡》(Uraniborg) 於巴黎國立網球場現代美術館(2012)及蒙特婁當代藝術博物館(2013)；《黑色的太陽》(Soleil Noir) 東京愛馬仕基金會(2015)；《類美術館》(PARAMUSEUM)阿雅克修費斯奇博物館(2016)；《奧托》(Otto)於雪梨雙年展(2018)、巴黎貝浩登藝廊(2018)及紐約尚凱利畫廊(2019)。《人造物》(ARTIFICILIS)於巴黎奧賽美術館及上海「龐畢度x西岸項目」(2021)。此外，他的影像作品《奧托》（Otto）及《太陽風》（Solar Wind）於南韓全南道立美術館（Jeonnam Museum of Art）的開幕首展(2021)展出。

格拉索分別於2008年獲得杜象獎（Prix Marcel Duchamp）及2017年的梅魯藝術*科學獎（Meru Art*Science Award）並於麥第奇別墅（Villa Medici）的「羅馬法蘭西學院」（French Academy in Rome）駐村(2004)。2016 年他受委託創作了《太陽風》-- 這件投影於巴黎十三區郊區「Calcia」水泥廠筒倉的牆上的永久公共藝術裝置。格拉索的作品已有幾本重要專著出版。他是尚凱利畫廊與貝浩登藝廊代理的藝術家。

“When the reflections appear to our eyes, they already belong to the past. In my work I have used silver ink for a long time, or nowadays painting on silver backgrounds with palladium leaf. The images appear or disappear depending on the angle of observation, like reflections of the past into the future. It is this subtle and vertiginous play on time that interests me.”   — Laurent Grasso 

TAO ART is delighted to present Time Leaves, Laurent Grasso’s first solo show in Taiwan. One of the most active and prominent artists of our time, Grasso’s exhibition, presented across a variety of media including film, painting, sculpture, and neon installation, brings together works from several of his well-known series, including OttO, Studies into the Past, Future Herbarium, and Panoptes,. His creative practice explores themes from the history of art, time, the natural sciences, and visual perception, incorporating new technologies to re-present the sacred and the invisible. Drawing inspiration from themes ranging from animism to supernatural phenomena, Grasso seeks to make the intangible visible, creating sometimes mysterious ambiences that challenge the boundaries of one’s knowledge and perception.

Laurent Grasso’s film OttO was originally commissioned for the 21st Biennale of Sydney in 2018. The artist collaborated with the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation and traditional owners in the community of Yuendumu to shoot the film at four Aboriginal sacred sites in the desert of Australia’s Northern Territory. Through the use of equipment such as thermal and hyperspectral cameras, and drones, he attempted to capture the electromagnetic rays and energy emanating from these natural sacred places, believing that one day, this force could be scientifically measured. In the film, mysterious, futuristic translucent spheres are seen traversing over vast, desolate expanses of desert, revealing a seemingly supernatural cartography as a way of reimagining and rethinking the world, enabling us to rediscover the potential for profound meanings within the landscape.

In his series Studies into the Past, which commenced in 2009, Grasso furnished another novel way of observing the world. The floating spheres seen in the film OttO seem to pass through the screen and are found in paintings that reflect a kind of reinvented reality. Continuing his meditation on time, the artist incorporates elements of his work into scenes set between the 16th to 18th centuries to produce images that give the impression of having previously existed in art history, creating an illusion of familiarity.

Included in this exhibition is another major motif from Grasso’s Studies into the Past series, that of panels covered with silver leaf, isolating the eyes of historical portraits, leaving only the eyes and their ghostly, mysterious gazes. “People are fascinated by museums because they are observed by the portraits they are looking at… there is something more universal with this idea of different eyes from different periods, watching us. It’s more about the gaze than vision itself,” states Grasso. The large neon installation, Panoptes, appears to constantly return the observer’s gaze, calling upon the viewer to adjust and reconsider their perceptions: Who is watching whom? Panoptes, which means “all-seeing,” refers to Argos Panoptes, a many-eyed giant in Greek mythology. Eyes are an essential theme that systematically run throughout Grasso’s work, alluding to the invisible process in which one constantly organizes their visual experience to form meaning and perspective. 

Grasso’s Future Herbarium series is inspired by the mutations in flowers resulting from the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. Grasso painted and sculpted a series of strangely shaped flowers in the style of 18th-century botanical illustrations; their elegant designs imply a somewhat eerie aesthetic. The exhibition title, TIME LEAVES refers to the passage of time, encapsulating narrative possibilities that are manifold and continually evolving and multiplying over time. In imagining and reconstructing these profoundly mysterious themes, Grasso’s artistic practice summons up the power to reawaken our sense of awe about the world.

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Laurent Grasso (b. 1972) lives and works in Paris, France. His work addresses different scales and temporalities through multiple media. He has questioned the structure of the museum, art history, themes of nature and culture, and notions of science and technology. His major exhibitions include Gakona, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2009; Black Box, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, 2011; Portrait of a Young Man, Bass Museum, of Art Miami, 2011; Uraniborg, Jeu de Paume, Paris, 2012 and Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montreal, 2013; Soleil Noir, Fondation Hermès, Tokyo, 2015; PARAMUSEUM, Palais Fesch, Ajaccio, 2016; OttO, Biennale of Sydney, 2018, Perrotin, Paris, 2018 and Sean Kelly, New York, 2019; ARTIFICIALIS, Musée d’Orsay, Paris and Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum, Shanghai, 2021. His films OttO (2018), Soleil Noir (2014), and Solar Wind (2020), were featured recently in the inaugural exhibition of the Jeonnam Museum of Art, Gwangyang, South Korea in 2021.

Grasso was awarded the Marcel-Duchamp Prize (2008) and the Meru Art*Science Award (Bergamo, Italy) in 2017. He was a resident at the French Academy in Rome –Villa Medici in 2004. In 2016 he was commissioned to create Solar Wind, a permanent public installation projected on the walls of the Calcia silos located on the outskirts of the thirteenth arrondissement of Paris and his work has been the subject of several important monographs. He is represented by Sean Kelly and Perrotin galleries.