Perrotin is pleased to return to the Park Avenue Armory for the 2023 edition of TEFAF New York. The gallery will stage a presentation of historical abstract paintings by artists from the Second School of Paris, Anna-Eva Bergman, Hans Hartung, and Georges Mathieu, in conversation with artworks by contemporary artists Lee Bae and Johan Creten.
A seminal figure of art informel, Hans Hartung's paintings are characterized by both gestural abstraction and rationalism. At TEFAF, our booth will showcase paintings from the 1970s, a formative period marked by experimentation with color and geometric forms. Georges Mathieu was the founder of 'lyrical abstraction,' a term coined by critic Jean José Marchand in 1947 in reference to Mathieu's work. The artist departed from geometrical abstractions that had dominated the previous era to favor a visual language that privileged form over content and gesture over intent, aiming for uninhibited creative expression. Finally, Anna-Eva Bergman’s abstracted landscapes of Norway transform lunar light, jagged fjords, and endless horizons into spiritually transcendent compositions. Concurrently, the Paris Museum of Modern Art opened a retrospective of Bergman’s work, which will be on view until July 16th.
A significant figure in Korean contemporary art, Lee Bae’s monochromatic practice is a formal and immersive study on the color black and materiality. His chosen material of charcoal, obtained by burning wood and used to revive fire, offers a metaphor for the cycle of life and time itself. At TEFAF, he will present two works from his signature Issu du Feu and Landscape series.
Finally, our booth will showcase a series of Johan Creten’s abstract sculptures. Leader in the revival of ceramics in contemporary art, Creten has been a sculptor for over four decades and has become known for his allegorical figures that are filled with poetry and lyricism and mystery.