Eric Poitevin stimulates the eye

About the exhibition "Eric Poitevin - Guest", on view at the Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon until 28 August 2022.

A fascinating exchange with the contemporary artist Eric Poitevin in the April issue of Art Press. On the occasion of the carte blanche given to the photographer by the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, the art critic and deputy editor-in-chief of the contemporary art magazine points out to him that, rather than "representations", his photographs are more like "presentations", so much so that his studio set-up makes the subject intensely present due to its decontextualisation.

The journalist also points out that if the Lyon museum called on Eric Poitevin for its very first experiment in dialogue between photography and its collections, whose identity is largely based on painting, it is perhaps because the many photographic pictures present in the artist's work ultimately deal with genres common to the history of painting, such as the portrait, the nude, the still life or the landscape. Moreover, this is what Eric Poitevin expects from this exhibition: "That photography as well as painting will expose their arguments, one being able to enhance the other in a reciprocal way".

Thus the photographer, who lives in the Meuse region, is currently showing his images on the walls of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon alongside the works of art that have inspired him in the collections, whether they are signed by Lucas Cranach, Odilon Redon, Frans Synders, Francisco de Zurbaran... or lesser known painters. In any case, whether the photographs are already in existence or were taken especially for this carte blanche, they all resonate in one way or another with the paintings, shedding new light on them as well as offering new perspectives.

It seems like a long time ago that the schoolboy from Longuyon, a small town in the Meurthe-et-Moselle mining basin, created the MJC photo club with a few friends!