Outrenoir
“My instrument is not black, but this secret light that comes from black,” said Pierre Soulages.
The black bands act like a second skin. The striations are neither in front nor behind. They are part of the image itself. They slow down the gaze and force it to adjust in order to distinguish the face. It is white and luminous, almost spectral. Its gaze is direct, yet filtered by the material.
Black matter and light: the very essence of Pierre Soulages’ work. And how to create an active surface, one that changes according to the point of view and the time spent looking.
This portrait is light sculpted out of darkness. A face that becomes matter and reveals itself slowly, as one accepts not seeing everything.
And our gaze that gets lost, not in a simple portrait, but in the work as a whole.

Outrenoir
This is the story of black. When everything is black, you might think there is nothing to see. That no one is there. That you are all alone. And it can even feel a little frightening.
But if you look more carefully, you will see that black is not flat. There are lots of traces. Lines. Shapes.
Light slides over it. It hides. Then it comes back. And little by little, an image appears. Not all at once. In pieces. Then, slowly, you make out a face. Very clear. Very calm. Black does not erase the image. It gives it time to appear.
In this image, we learn to look differently. To take our time. To accept not seeing everything, straight away.