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Here, the space is sparsely lit. Only a few rays attempt with difficulty to escape their resin. This simple pilot light will lead our way, leaving us to decipher the sometimes dull, sometimes iridescent colors of the forms that revolt in the center of the space. A kind of pictorial extravagance, a metamorphosis of what was formerly placed on the wall, a hunchbacked architecture stands before us. Everything seems strange. And yet, these objects are more familiar than ever. There is a plant here, a mirror over there, paintings hung on the wall, and in the center of the room, a table and chairs waiting to be occupied. But nothing can be done, these objects seem to play with us. Only a silent interaction could take place around this loveseat because speaking would make it impossible to read the text by Anna Ternon that the artist has slipped inside of this piece of furniture. Here too, the ceramic plants realized by Victor Levai are broken, vainly attempting to grow in their wax vase. One will not catch up with reality by searching for their reflection in the mirror, either. It is distorted, almost elusive, as if lost in an unprecedented time-space.

Côme Clérino’s work is not simply a retina stimulator. Of course, the bulimia of forms and colors with which he works will never leave them indifferent. But here, more than just captivating our vision, the artist proposes a total environment that needs to be penetrated if one wishes to grasp its substance. To not play the game is to risk missing the proposed experience. Once we decide to be active in this exhibition, once we manage to reclaim the space sincerely, fantasies can be generated between the rooms and our bodies. Then, a surprising world, a slightly distorted world compared to our everyday universe, presents itself. And just as in reading a good novel – those whose authors give enough space for readers to flourish in their own imagination without being parasitized by coarse infantilizing descriptions – we can flourish in the space. Countless questions emerge in our minds: what have these objects witnessed before I arrived ? Who occupied this space that moves before me ? And what am I to do now ? »

Translation by Katia Porro