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The recent immersive mural realized at Fabrègues Castle in the south of France is an example of the timeless and sometimes carnivalesque universe that the artist creates in her paintings. Often coated with a primary fluorescent layer, and realized on large-scale canvas, her works, whose tonalities are sometimes dark and sometimes acidic, as in the ensemble of the Débutantes, exude theatrical enigma. Before the representation of groups and characters, which may recall those of Romantic painting, Claire Tabouret was often interested in aquatic diurnal and nocturnal landscapes. During this time, she notably realized the Maisons Inondées, the series which brought her to recognition, as well as the ensemble entitled Migrants. Originating in internet or archival found photographs, her canvases are tainted with personal experience, unfurling a universe of stories and memories.

For inquiries, please contact: inquiries@alminerech.com

Photo: Amanda Charchian

Born in Karaj, Iran in 1981, he graduated with a B.A. from Tehran University’s College of Fine Arts in 2005, and later earned an M.A. in film studies from Tehran’s Teachers College.

Mehdi Ghadyanloo began his career as a muralist in Tehran in the early 2000s, when, following a call for proposals by the city, he produced almost one thousand gigantic wall paintings, including dreamlike landscapes and science-fiction scenes.  

His work combines minimalist themes and a surrealist aesthetic in his paintings, using acrylic, oil, or watercolor. He uses the trompe l’œil technique of his murals to compose his paintings that take on the shape of square boxes with dreamlike imagery and hyperrealistic technique. Each of his works reveals his brilliant ability to trick our eyes and our perception of reality. Their architectural appearance reflects the artist’s investigation into designing and representing space on the canvas.

Shadow and light overlap and challenge each other endlessly in Ghadyanloo’s practice, and the symbolism of the movement from darkness to light is at the heart of his vision. All the elements that he depicts in his paintings — ladders, fences, holes in the ceiling — are methods of representing a way out, a kind of hope.

Mehdi Ghadyanloo is now based in Sarrebrücken, Germany and New York, US.

— Martha Kirszenbaum, independant curator and writer

Portrait of Mehdi Ghadyanloo, 2022 / Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech © Mehdi Ghadyanloo Studio

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Private Day (by invitation only):
Thursday, May 5, 2022, 1 pm to 8 pm

Public Days:
Friday, May 6, 2022, 12 pm to 8 pm
Saturday, May 7, 2022, 12 pm to 8 pm
Sunday, May 8, 2022, 12 pm to 6 pm
Monday, May 9, 2022, 12 pm to 8 pm
Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 12 pm to 6 pm

Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10065

In his works, Ouattara Watts summons imaginary worlds and mystical visions, from ancestral to contemporary, to observe the metaphysical relationship between creatures. Vibrant colors, mysterious figures, and allusions to spiritual rites in the form of equations and cryptic symbols are apparent, and the interrelationship of these elements creates a dimension unique to Watts. His source material is colorful and varied, from traditional fabrics and paint to cut-out photographs and digital prints. The added layers forge a sense of his multicultural identity and reflect upon an increasingly multicultural society. Regardless of the origin of these elements, the discernable spiritual power of his works conveys another world that is both instantaneous and timeless.

Born in the Ivory Coast in 1957, Watts lives and works in New York and considers himself an American artist. He was persuaded to move to the city in the late '80s by Jean-Michel Basquiat, after meeting the artist at an opening in Paris. Lifelong friends, a thematic similarity is evident in their art, both of which highlight African culture, philosophy, and spirituality.

Ouattara Watts is represented by Karma and Almine Rech.

Ouattara Watts has been exhibited at the Whitney Biennial, the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, the Venice Biennale, and MoMA. His work can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York; Smithsonian National Museum of African American Art, Washington, D.C.; The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; Collection Mohammed IV, Morocco; Fondation Dapper, Paris, France; Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, Saratoga Springs, New York; and the UC Berkeley Museum of Art and Film Archive, Berkeley, California, among others.

Portrait of Ouattara Watts, 2022 / Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech - Photo: © James Fischetti

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The society of the spectacle. The performance is over, or perhaps it is yet to begin. Farah Atassi's dancers are at rest, sometimes even asleep, on a stage with a half-open curtain, not for some ballet but for other art forms. Indeed, in the center of a space lined entirely with an impeccable grid that plays almost hypnotically with the reclining dancer's striped costume, striped paintings emerge from the decor, while on the ground a frame seems to be waiting to become an abstraction. These intersecting lines in Sleeping dancer 3 reveal other crossings, other encounters — those of painting, dance, and theater. This singular dialogue occurs again on the stage of Dancer on stage 2: next to some striped paintings strewn on the floor, the dancer, revealing her intimacy — she only wears a blouse and some slippers — lounges in the stage area, exposing an abstract, undulating decor that merges with the stage curtains. 

— Marjolaine Lévy, art critic and curator

For inquiries, please contact: inquiries@alminerech.com

Photo: Farah Atassi, After the Show, 2021 - Glycero and oil on canvas - 200 x 160 cm, 78 1/2 x 63 in / © Farah Atassi - Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech - Photo: Matt Bohli

Born in South Korea and working in Italy, Minjung Kim is well-known for her layered translucent ink works. Using traditional Korean Hanji paper in her paintings, the flow and perceived three-dimensionality of her works evoke a sense of serenity that embraces light and space. The pleasing color palette is subdued and gentle while maintaining a powerful representation of beauty and commentary on her vision of the world.

Minjung Kim’s work connects deeply with the likes of James Turrell, the first artist exhibited by the gallery.

A sense of abundant space and cosmos is a characteristic shared between Kim and Turrell. Interestingly, in its meditative gestures, Kim’s work depicts this sentiment through marking Hanji paper with water, inks made of smoke or natural pigments, and cut-paper collages.

Kim's Korean heritage paired with her study of Western art while in Italy allows for her work to flourish through elements of both cultural spheres, and this successful coalescence is clearly brought forward in Kim’s captivating paintings.  

Over the past two decades, she has presented her works in Italy, Switzerland, China, the UK, the US, and Israel, among other countries. She has been the subject of solo exhibitions at renowned museums around the world, including Macro (Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma), Rome, Italy (2012); Hermès Foundation, Singapore (2017); Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany (2019); and Hill Art Foundation, New York, US (2020). 

She introduced her works in Korea in the exhibition Traces (2015) at OCI Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; and the international invitational exhibition Making the Void, Filling the Void (2018) at Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea. Kim's presentation at The Light, The Shade, The Depth at Palazzo Caboto in Venice, Italy, curated by Jean-Christophe Ammann, received particularly enthusiastic international reviews. She has also participated in the Gwangju Biennale in 2004 and 2018. 

Her works are included in the collections of major institutions such as the British Museum in London, UK; Hill Art Foundation and Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in New York, Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey, Rhode Island School of Design Museum in Rhode Island, US, among others.

Minjung Kim currently lives and works between New York and South France.
Almine Rech will represent the artist in close collaboration with Gallery Hyundai.

Portrait of Minjung Kim
Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech

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