La poésie se décline au féminin
Robert Montgomery : Chose Freedom, not Power
Pour d’autres horizons optiques, direction Chêne-Bourg où on fait de l’oeil à la nouvelle proposition artistique – Robert Montgomery – de la délicieuse Barbara Polla qui a déménagé sa galerie pour pouvoir nous en mettre davantage plein les yeux. Dans son nouvel espace, aussi bucolique que magique, on y découvre une exposition lumineuse, emplie de bonnes ondes autour de la notion espoir.
HARMONIE INCONNUE toute la nuit, en live and in love
101 Livres Ardoises
Artists in search of (lost) time
Féminisme d’artistes
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La rentrée sera poétique ou elle ne sera pas…
Along with the end of summer breaks, poetry is back, thanks to Robert Montgomery who brings to Geneva THE BEGINNING OF HOPE. Despite — or because of — the continuous flow of violent and apocalyptic news, his new exhibition, decidedly and gamely, takes the bias towards hope and peace: Robert Montgomery proposes that it is time for THE END OF GRIEF and THE BEGINNING OF HOPE. The pacifist poet gives incites us to be non-violent, in our thoughts, in our words, on our actions, as he is in his poems, light sculptures and paintings, and proposes to take example from the anonymous heroes of kindness rather than the respected heroes of war.
« The poet is a liar who speaks the truth », as Cocteau said. Let’s listen to that « mystic truth ». Constant hard work on the beauty of form cannot allow banality of substance. The rhythm of alexandrines, like that of haikus, along with the complexity they entail, the attention they require, their exceptional diversity, are utterly incompatible with the emptiness of thought that prefigures extremism. They are THE BEGINNING OF HOPE on which we may build refulgent futures: the futures we all thrive for, and need.
Besides the light pieces in the exhibition (and outside), and the photographs, Robert Montgomery also shows the first “Mantra paintings” from a new series of work. Indeed, s stated by the artist himself: “In 2015 my work was included in the book The New Concrete published by The Hayward Gallery, a very interesting book which examines the relationship between concrete poetry and visual art and it made think more about the relationship between concrete poetry and abstract painting. I wanted to see if I could make paintings that are concrete poems but are also very painterly and play with abstract composition, painterly gesture and colour the way abstract painters I love such as Kazimir Malevich, Sonia Delaunay, and Richard Diebenkorn do very well. This meant accepting the challenge of bringing color into my work after years of making quite monochrome art. And I wanted them to work as abstract paintings first of all, so that you might enjoy them as paintings first – before even reading the text.”
“And then, continues Montgomery, I wanted the texts to be very simple, like mantras, so that if you live with the paintings they can become like daily affirmations or meditation mantras, positive reminders to repeat daily as you would in meditation – The End of Grief, The Beginning of Hope, Money is A Superstition… small healing thoughts to clean the mind.” The take of the artist is not optimism — optimism is laziness. No, it is action.
Words are action. Art is action. Public beauty, whether in words or in art or both, is a way to break the vicious circle of violence.
Poets and artists are spokespersons and witnesses of their time.
©Robert Montgomery
