In 1926, Kandinsky published one of the Bauhaus’s major theoretical texts, in which he developed a systematic reflection on the fundamental elements of visual language and their capacity to produce psychological effects.

A century later, Mathieu Mercier, artist and curator of this exhibition, reactivates its foundations in order to update its relevance.

POINTS, LINES, PLANES (without articles or conjunctions, in the plural and in capital letters) brings together works from the historical avant-garde, including those of Kandinsky, and places them in dialogue with works by contemporary artists. All abstract, these works share an approach based on the reduction, rationalization, and autonomy of visual language through the use of simple forms.

This reduction primarily aims at eliminating the representation of reality, narrative, and direct subjective expression. It relies on abandoning all figurative references in favor of an elementary visual vocabulary composed of fundamental geometric forms. The interplay between forms, colors, and spaces generates visual tensions and perceptual effects, introducing a sensory dimension within rational constructions.

These autonomous entities are multiplied within the gallery space by the echoes the works produce with one another. Despite an apparent neutrality, these works (some of which are not without humor) strongly engage the senses. They explore the very foundations of modern visual vocabulary within a historical continuity rooted in the Suprematist movement.

Artists exhibited: Pic Adrian, Agam, Carl Andre, John Armleder, Arp, Babou, Cécile Bart, Robert Barry, Ella Bergman-Michel, Jean-Marie Blanchet, Nicolas Boulard, Hugo Capron, Nicolas Chardon, Claude Closky, Francisco Da Mata, Walter Dexel, César Domela, Philippe Decrauzat, Noël Dolla, Sylvie Fanchon, Inma Femenia, Antonio González, Jean Gorin, Auguste Herbin, Vilmos Huszár, Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Rainier Lericolais, El Lissitzky, David Malek, Kazimir Malevich, Matthew McCaslin, Mathieu Mercier, László Moholy-Nagy, Vera Molnar, Camila Oliveira Fairclough, Colin Paul Mey, Jan Van Der Ploeg, Emanuel Proweller, Charles Sirato, Carl Strüwe, Aldéric Trével, Léon Tutundjian, Xavier Veilhan, Michel Verjux, Luigi Veronesi, Elsa Werth…