One of the shows that certainly stood out for us during our recent trip to Paris (and bare in mind the competition was fierce), was the solo exhibition by Claire Tabouret at Perrotin. Presented in agreement with Almine Rech, the work is divided in three rooms, comprising painted ceramics, floral acrylics on paper, and the stand out series of large acrylics on synthetic fur. And besides Paysages d’intérieurs at Perrotin, Almine Rech is presenting her L'Urgence et la Patience exhibition of sculptures, self-portraits and portraits, and a bronze sculpture of an adolescent bather in the Hôtel Salé at the Musée national Picasso.

"For the Perrotin show, I was working on synthetic faux fur—I call it fluff," Tabouret stated recently in her Art Forum interview. "It doesn’t allow much of a margin for layering or mistakes. For me, it was a way to really talk about texture." And indeed, it's the unparalleled coarseness of these odd yet alluring creations that had us examine all that is happening on their surface, enjoying the way these picturesque panoramas break apart. Balancing somewhere between the vibrant deliciousness and a wet mess, the unforgiving clashes of the thin fur hairs and sticky acrylic paint explode in an amplitude of almost tiny sculptural forms that seen as a whole form a recognizable, pictographic image. In combination with the French-born, Los Angeles–based artist’s exceptional colorist proficiency, this coherent series of “fluffy landscape paintings” is a fresh new way to merge the core of her practice with the influences of the world around her, namely, everyday California.

Usually working with portraiture, identity, relationships between people, as well as interested in the space that her protagonists occupy, Tabouret this time let go of her subjects and entirely focused on their surroundings. While working on this series of Interior Landscapes, she also fully embraced her interest in working with light, colors, and creating bright, light-imbued settings. Starting her process by painting on a neon background, the type of color that is non existent in nature, the idea is to first install the image in her mental space, away from any interferences of reality. It's there where she proceeds to apply bold bright colors on top of each other, constructing depth and volume, while being able to shift and change the continuous light setting coming from the back. Known for painting slowly and dedicating herself to the process, truly caring about the subjects and building them carefully with each brush stroke, she is utilizing this constant neon glow from underneath to construct a distinctive ambience. And working with such intense support as fake fur and the brightness that is almost impossible to entirely cover with paint, Tabouret transforms these scruffy depictions of idyllic vistas into continuously radiating memories that will never fade away. 

Photo and text by Sasha Bogojev