Patrick Cornillet

The recent paintings of French artist PATRICK CORNILLET feature austere constructionsin empty environments. Places in a non-space, fragments of an enigmatic architecture that has been left in suspense by its visitors. Reminding us of a video game, these paintings try to make the spectator follow their complex structures in search of an exit. But there is no exit; in reality there is no more entry either. The spectator is caught in the trap of an illusory space.

Words such as 'severe' and 'naked' come to mind when one sees PATRICK CORNILLET's latest works. As in his previous work, a feeling of movement is perceived in these structures that seem static at a first glance. Their mass contrasts with the immaterial space surrounding them, and as in a dream caused by fever, the viewer can't seem to realize what the proportions of the structures are, and can't make an idea about their dimensions either.

The viewer struggles to give meaning to the concrete structures; some images suggest architectural structures, although it is difficult to imagine what sort of building they might have supported. This sensation, both familiar and strange, strengthens the feeling of alienation one has when confronted to the works. Balancing between the two, these images evoke the ruins of a fallen society or perhaps the threatening vision of a near future. They stand naked, as fragmented skeletons, deprived of their initial content but they keep their special mystique intact.