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Marc Desgrandchamps

MARC DESGRANDCHAMPS

Le tourment de la ligne d'horizon Galerie Lelong 17 March–7 May 2022 38 Avenue Matignon, Paris
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Press Release

For his first exhibition at the Avenue Matignon premises of Galerie Lelong & Co., Marc Desgrandchamps is presenting a brand-new set of works on paper: postcards reproducing paintings from a variety of periods, covered by the artist with cut-outs of images of his own works.

Marc Desgrandchamps’ paintings are inspired by images of all sorts taken from his personal archives: press photographs, film scenes, reproductions of paintings. His memory and these stimuli act as the starting point for a mysterious narration that blurs the visual landmarks of the viewer. By fragmenting some of his own works to layer them over images from other painters, the artist embarks on a pictorial and conceptual journey that produces remarkably intense images on a very small surface area. The reproductions chosen are generally little-known works by eminent artists (Joos van Cleve, Delacroix, Ingres, Le Corbusier, Joan Miró, Douglas Gordon...) that disappear almost entirely behind the collage.

The exhibition also includes gouaches on paper which repeat the compositions of certain collages on a larger scale. Here, the artist is inviting us to acquire a deeper understanding of his artistic process.

A number of recently-completed oils on canvas complete this brand-new ensemble.
Marc Desgrandchamps was born in 1960 and lives and works in Lyon. A collection of interviews and conferences, published by Galerie Lelong & Co., sheds light on his sources and the artist’s interest in art history (Lignes, 2019).A retrospective exhibition at the MAC in Marseille is in preparation for the end of 2022.

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About the Artist

Marc Desgrandchamps (born in 1960) lives and works in Lyon (France). Marc Desgrandchamps, leading painter figure painter of the French art scene, plays with the notions of opacity, transparency and superimposition. If his painting is figurative, indeed we recognise bodies and landscapes, the perspective is often twisted, space is indefinite, and suddenly anomalies arise: bodies and objects are fragmented. His works references comes from many universes (art history, photography, cinema, literature and music), it raises the question of the medium’ specificities and experiences the limits of figuration. He paints, according to his own words, ‘a painting of doubt, doubt of the figure, doubt of presence, doubt even of painting’. Another recurrent motif in its artistic practice, the feminine figure, and especially the one of the bathers, occupies a central place. Marc Desgrandchamps has benefited from several major exhibitions, especially in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Strasbourg (2004), the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon (2004), the Kunstmuseum in Bonn (2005), the National Museum of Modern Art—Centre Georges Pompidou (2006), as well as an important retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris (2011). In addition, his work is present in French institutional collections (FRAC Ile-de-France - Le Plateau in Paris, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Saint-Étienne, Regional Museum of Contemporary Art Languedoc-Roussillon in Sérignan, Museum of Contemporary Art of Lyon, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Strasbourg).

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Also Exhibiting at Galerie Lelong

All Exhibitions
David Nash
DAVID NASH Catching Forms. Wood to Bronze Galerie Lelong 10 September–10 October 2026 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
Barthélémy Toguo
BARTHÉLÉMY TOGUO The Nomadic Studio Galerie Lelong 10 September–10 October 2026 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
About the Gallery
Galerie Lelong is located in Paris and New York. It was founded by Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong and Jean Frémon.

The Paris gallery has been exhibiting recent works from artists of international standing since 1981. The 1980s were notable for artists who went on to become household names, including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Eduardo Chillida, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Alechinsky, but also for the next generation of artists: Konrad Klapheck, Jan Dibbets, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Jannis Kounellis, Arnulf Rainer, Nicola De Maria and Jan Voss.

In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.

Since the turn of the century, Galerie Lelong has accentuated the geographical and expressive diversity of its artists: from sculpture and objects by Jaume Plensa, David Nash, Wolfgang Laib, Kiki Smith, Rebecca Horn, Barry Flanagan to installations by Barthélémy Toguo and Lin Tianmiao, without forgetting painting, namely David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Kate Shepherd, Nalini Malani, Nancy Spero, Juan Uslé, Leon KossoffLeon Kossoff.

Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.

It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.

The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).

The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
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Address
38 avenue Matignon
Paris
France
Opening Hours
Tues - Sat, 11am - 7pm
(1)
Paris 38 avenue Matignon
Galerie Lelong contemporary art gallery in 38 Avenue Matignon Paris France
Galerie Lelong
38 avenue Matignon, Paris, France
+33 171 722 699
http://www.galerie-lelong.com

Opening hours
Tues - Sat, 11am - 7pm
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