Xavier VEILHAN

Perrotin is pleased to present Portrait Mode, a solo exhibition by Xavier Veilhan in Paris. The portrait mode seems like the renewal of a historical genre through its digital transformation: the portrait (and the self-portrait) has proliferated endlessly. In the exhibition, the portrait is presented in two dimensions (by combining the techniques of marquetry and painting) and in three dimensions (using digital sculptures of solid wood, among others). The subjects are friends of the artist, members of the studio staff, and everyday animals (birds). Here, the self-celebration of each individual through the image is replaced by the celebration of all through the object.
The seats by Vico Magistretti and Rick Owens that furnish the studio were used during the sittings. They are reproduced in a smaller size in the statues but also “physically present” in the space: they serve as a living room suite so that the artist can comfortably receive and interact with the visitors.