Past exhibition

Philippe Cognée. The painting after

Du 15 March 2023 au 16 July 2023

Full rate : 10 €
Reduces rate : 8 €
Free under 18 years old

To coincide with its reopening on 15 March 2023, the musée Bourdelle is devoting its biggest ever retrospective in Paris to Philippe Cognée (b. 1957). Held in the wing designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the exhibition ‘Philippe Cognée. The painting after’ is structured around the Basel Catalogue, a dizzying array of a thousand works by the artist. Painter as well as sculptor, Cognée is in dialogue with his peers, including Antoine Bourdelle, his tutelary figure.

Philippe Cognée (né en 1957), Le Catalogue de Bâle, 2013-2015, vue du projet partiellement présenté à l’automne 2018, à l’Espace Jacques-Villeglé, à Saint-Gratien. Courtesy de l’artiste et TEMPLON, Paris-Bruxelles-New York © Philippe Cognée, ADAGP, Paris

Produced between 2013 and 2015, this collection comprises around a thousand works realised according to the same protocol: the artist, after tearing out pages from the Art Basel catalogues, paints a copy of and over a reproduction of a work - by Jeff Koons, Pablo Picasso or Alberto Giacometti, or by a less famous or even forgotten artist. This repainting, which follows the exact format of the photographic reproduction it covers, combines, in the same gesture, in the same movement, a disappearance and an appearance.

Mounted on aluminium, these works are presented side by side in a long labyrinth, forming a hypnotic frieze. Like photograms, they form a shot or travelling shot. The painting thus appears as a red thread, or Ariadne's thread...

This crucial project is preceded by a long introductory sequence, attesting to the pre-existence and anchoring of major notions in the artist's work: ‘repainting’ and formal proliferation. Paintings and sculptures are a reminder of the extent to which, since the 1980s, Philippe Cognée has been exploring the overlaying of paint, optical saturation and the legacy of his elders - Velázquez, Ingres or Rubens. The artist is well aware of this: we always paint after, and from after.

Finally, a large room, as if trapped in the labyrinth, forms the third sequence of this exhibition: while a Tête de taureau (1989) - an archaic sculpture evoking the minotaur - faces Bourdelle's Grand Masque tragique (1901), the picture rails host six monumental, unseen canvases pairing the flower with the sculpture: aren't they both traversed by the same vitalist sap, by the same principle of germination?

To accompany the visit

Film 'Painting after' (2023) 8'50
Taking the form of an interview with Philippe Cognée, conducted in his Vertou studio, this film shown in the exhibition sheds light on the artist's creative process: the use of photography, encaustic painting, floral motifs and the importance of Bourdelle. It's a way of giving visitors a chance to see and hear.

Digital guide
A tour application available for free on the Musée Bourdelle app complements the texts in the exhibition. Featuring around fifteen commentaries on the works and themes, this tour is supported by a number of visuals and offers further insights and new perspectives. It lets you discover the exhibition by giving the floor to artist Philippe Cognée, curator Colin Lemoine and scenographer Maciej Fiszer. It also includes readings of texts by writers - Pierre Bergounioux, Marie Darrieussecq and Yves Peyré - devoted to the artist's work. A different way of making the visit...