Bernard Piffaretti's dual-panel paintings show near-identical replications of abstract and geometric patterns split along a line on the vertical axis.
Read MorePiffaretti developed the 'Piffaretti system' in 1986, which offers the framework that structures every one of his compositions: each painting is comprised of two panels that appear identical, separated by a black strip – one being the initial image, the second, an attempt at its duplication.
Upon completion, there remains little difference between original and copy, despite the second image offering only an imperfect replication of the initial gesture, distinctions that manifest through the inclination of the brushstrokes, the weight of the hue, and the number of dips of his paintbrush.
One untitled acrylic on canvas from 1998 shows two large, forest-green, rectangular forms, rendered in portrait orientation, marked with a small white square above a white rectangle placed in the left-hand corner of each of the two panels. The difference between the original green panel on one side, and its replication on the other is minimal but noticeable, attesting to the artist's lack of desire for perfect replication.
Even from afar, one can see the small bush shape, painted on the white rectangle form in the lower left corner, in the first frame is rendered with greater pressure on the righthand side, while the strokes that form the diagonal red lines that mark the small white square and rectangle arrive from different directions.
In other works, the second half of the panel is left blank because of the complexity of the initial shapes painted, evoking the impossibility of reproducing the artistic gesture.
Piffaretti's paintings about painting is well expressed in Untitled (métapeinture) from 1993, which shows faded rounded outlines of the female torso replicated across both panels. Here, the 'meta', or self-referential element appears to be expressed in basic grey tones and simple shapes that made up the figure, evoking a return to the maternal womb or life's essence.
In Untitled, a work from 2019, which prints 'BE THE ONE' in blue, red, and green letters, due to the familiarity of textual forms and their equal legibility, the line between what came first and what follows is put into question, as well as the idea of the complete, or perfected image.
Piffaretti often realises drawings after paintings to 'seize his own work', which reverses the more typical artistic process that begins with preparatory sketches.
This breaking away from tradition is particularly notable when considered within the context of French painting, known for its adherence to singularity and continuation, and considers the image in its own right, rather than as a reproduction.
'Duplication creates other conditions of observation and plunges the viewer into a productive, and sometimes jubilant, malaise. That is the intention of the image.' Piffaretti has said.
