Installation
The hanging
After lasting months of research, questions, doubts and enjoyment, this is the moment of truth, where we see one's work in place, ready to offer itself to the public eye…
Nicolas Claris · Romain Claris
Relais & Châteaux Saint-James — Bouliac
June 20 – September 9, 2018
Photo © Nicolas Claris — All rights reserved
Where NOIRS honours light and colours…
June 20 to September 9, 2018 in the art gallery of the Relais & Châteaux Saint-James in Bouliac.
Black is the origin. With the appearance of light different BLACKS have been revealed, multiple, sensitive, fragile but with what presence! BLACKS that are born from the deprivation of light, reflections of non-reflections, a kind of anti-light that makes us discover colours, lights and materials. They emphasise, reveal, make us aware of so close richnesses. Magical, simple, everyday.
We took as starting point existing material or surfaces propitious to the imagination — one could be tempted to recognise skins, minerals, cellars, roads, mountains, water, sea, stars, coal, technical fabrics, bolts or dancer. But does one really need these eclectic identifications? These are just starting points, initialisations, suspensions of time, like frozen frames masterfully highlighted by the BLACKS…
We often get close to abstraction, approaching the border between fantasy and realism within a curious, exciting and complicit mood. By associating the imaginary and the real, dreams and origins do merge.
Because the light is our brush, we wanted to go on playing, dreaming, looking even further… drilling holes for the light.
BLACKS
Black does not mean sad! It is beautiful because by some kind of self-sacrifice, it allows us to perceive, to observe and to discover the light and the colours, therefore the matter.
In our culture, the relationship between BLACKS and colour is not as binary as one could be tempted to think. If the absolute black absorbs all the wavelengths, it would be characterised by an absence of colour but the reality is very different, much more surprising!
Very rarely pure, black is linked to colours. It reveals micro-details, trends, influences, so that each point shining more or less makes us apprehend one or more isolated or dominant colours, because it leans on the material, accomplice of the light. As such, black is not unique, it is fundamentally multiple.
But this multiplicity remains mysterious: one speaks easily of "deep black" and curiously never of "light black": if it is deep, could black not also be revealing?
Such an incursion into the worlds of BLACKS is a fun quest, sometimes complicated but fascinating… To bring out the light and the colours from the black, it is necessary to be attentive, curious, to stir preconceived ideas and to question oneself.
Before starting our actual work, it is essential for us to carry out research, trials and errors — to go back and ahead, never letting go.
At the base of each image there is a reality, no matter what its origin. What matters is the attraction that the final image arouses, its power of seduction, to take us elsewhere, in a world that everyone can conceive according to their own dreams and imaginations. We simply want this exhibition to take visitors elsewhere, nicely and gently, letting them enjoy the incredible and surprising richnesses of BLACKS…
After lasting months of research, questions, doubts and enjoyment, this is the moment of truth, where we see one's work in place, ready to offer itself to the public eye…
The moment of truth has arrived, the guests also. Many, despite the festival of music, despite a football game of the French team at the World championship, guests comment and prove to be polite, very very! A magnificent reception at the Saint-James in Bouliac where the chef Nicolas Magie added to our images his magistral preparations… in black!
Official photographs by our friend Sabine Calès.
Fruit of Romain's explorations, here is the film that will make you discover our entry into the world of the beautiful and dreamy BLACKS… Order a copy of the film
The catalogue of the NOIRS exhibition, first presented at the Relais & Châteaux Saint-James art gallery, June–September 2018.
26 prints 140 × 105 cm. Signed prints, limited edition of 30 copies. Superb printing by Lebolabo. Order a print or a copy of the film →
Transformed and enlarged in 1989 by architect Jean Nouvel, the Saint-James is classified 18th-century heritage by the Ministry of Culture. Under the General Management of Marie Borgel, the four men at the helm of the restaurant are Nicolas Magie (Head Chef), Sébastien Bertin (Head Pastry Chef), Adrien Champigny (Chef Sommelier) and Fabio Rambaldi (Restaurant Manager).
"Apart from the very high technical quality of the work of Nicolas and Romain Claris, what we appreciate most is the way they appropriate our requests, with a real ability to adapt according to the topics to be treated, including our DNA, to realise photos and films in phase with our needs. Working with them is a real pleasure."
Marie Borgel — CEO
For all its offset printing, Claris chose Print. Nicolas Brunaud and his wife Muriel Malabat have run this family printing house in Bègles for many years. Claris and Print have been collaborating for more than fifteen years.
"I enjoy Nicolas Claris' images, they are not easy to print because they are complex under their apparent simplicity, there is no chance in them. To reproduce them you have to be able to wonder… He is the guardian of his images, he keeps a close eye on them under the press, at every output."
Nicolas Brunaud
Founded in the 80s, Incidence is No.1 in France and in the top 5 worldwide. From R&D to finishing touches, everything is done in-house.
"Nicolas and Romain Claris's work shares the same values as Incidence Sails. Supporting NOIRS therefore makes perfect sense. It is also the continuation of a long-standing partnership with artists with whom we share this quest for beauty, quality and innovation."
Philippe Touet — Commercial Director
International leader on the market of marine diesel engines with a product range between 10 and 1,900 hp. One of the top three brands for marine inboard diesel engines in the world.
"Encouraging the work of living artists means participating in the emergence of new artistic projects. Values that Nanni Diesel cultivates by becoming a patron of this exhibition."
Amalia Festa — CEO
With 50 years of experience and more than 40,000 pieces of equipment sailing around the world, POCHON SA offers unique expertise in marine electronic navigation and communication.
Julien Pochon — CEO
An independent media group offering unique events and three publications for high net worth individuals and Family Offices. Exclusive media partner of the Monaco Yacht Summit.
Xavier Calloc'h — CEO
RICOH IMAGING supports Nicolas Claris as Pentax Ambassador. He works in Full Format (Pentax K-1) and Medium Format (Pentax 645Z and 645D).
"Extremely demanding, he pushes the limits of our equipment well beyond the average. A key partner for Ricoh Pentax!"
Yazid Belmadi — PRO Department Manager
Central Dupon Images offers in Paris and Bordeaux all services related to the image, from high definition retouching to framing — 1.80 m wide enlargements in one piece, giant lamination. Privileged partner of the biggest cultural events and photographic festivals in France and abroad.
Central Dupon Images has been the privileged lab of Claris for more than fifteen years — a fruitful collaboration in terms of quality of image processing and photographic rendering.
Jean-François Camp
