About the artwork
Against a grayish-blue background, a woman stands three-quarters to the right of the composition, staring at a man with his back to us. The two protagonists, whose title invites us to name them Armand and Theresa, are linked by a game of seduction. The couple seem to have emerged directly from a 1920s film, their black representation evoking the black-and-white films of that era. In the foreground, the woman's leg is colored and outlines a mountainous landscape, adding a vibrant dimension to the scene, while a snake crosses the work's monochrome background. Gluing together unreal elements, Ivan Messac offers us a renewed and personal representation of Adam and Eve, re-enacting the scene of temptation. The presence of the snake evokes the biblical figure of Nahash and recalls the fall of Adam and Eve, imminently suggesting the fall to come of Armand and Theresa.
Expert opinion
This narrative figurative work combines biblical narrative and popular culture in a composition that is both dark and colorful.
About the artist
Ivan Messac is the youngest representative of the Figuration Narrative movement, in which he participated from 1969 to 1980 alongside Gérard Fromanger, Hervé Télémaque, Jacques Mohory and Bernard Rancillac. His practice, which began in a France shaken by May 68 and various social movements, can be described as "political Pop". He boldly combined the large, flat surfaces and pure colors of advertising posters with political issues such as the Vietnam War, the Cold War and the recognition of minorities. Recognized as a major artist of French painting, his works have been shown on a number of occasions in exhibitions tracing the Figuration Narrative movement, including at the Musée des Beaux-arts d'Orléans in 2005, the Musée Hospice Comtesse in Lille in 2007 and the Patinoire Royale in Brussels in 2015. In 2016, the Centre Pompidou created a major event with "Messac Live: 20 jours dans un tableau". For several days, Ivan Messac was asked to create a work in front of the public. In the end, he created not one but five monumental paintings for this memorable event.
“The universe of my work, I feel, is something quite joyful, quite happy. In my work, I want to create something that's not necessarily a reflection of reality, but rather a kind of dream image of a reality that's not very real, but with real elements.”
Additional info
Signed
Dated
Framed
Proof of authenticity
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