Rituals for long distances

An exhibition organized in collaboration with MORRIS ADJIMI ARCHITECTS and curated by ISABELLE LE NORMAND

 

Emmanuel Barbault is pleased to present “Rituals for Long Distances” an exhibition of paintings by artist Nathanaëlle Herbelin, making her American debut, curated by Isabelle Le Normand.

 

Whether her subject is a portrait, an interior, or a landscape, a distinct sense of place permeates Herbelin’s work, which may be in part due to her habitation of two worlds. Born to French and Israeli parents, the artist grew up in Israel and now divides her time between there and France. Herbelin has spent an extensive amount of time in the Israeli deserts, first during her obligatory military service in the Israeli army, as a tour guide at the education unit, and then later on extended excursions of her own. She has witnessed firsthand the ever-changing landscape carved continuously by the hands of both nature and man. This tenuous stability of place is present in the work. Herbelin paints deeply psychological interiors that intrigue the eye and mind with their sense of unease. The spaces she paints are sometimes beautiful, sometimes threadbare, but there is always a sense that the ground could shift, and what is present now could all come crashing down at any moment. This transitory shift extends to some of her portrait work, where her subjects are frequently depicted from the back, bending over, or staring off into a distance. But just as you begin to believe that this mutability is a hallmark of the work, Herbelin deftly switches gears again, her subject instead confronting the viewer with a measured and steady gaze. She has absorbed and synthesized the history of painting in her work, with elements of abstraction— even geometric abstraction—mingling with references to Early Renaissance masters such as Giotto, Fra Angelico and Pierro Della Francesca, to fuse a style that is distinctive and singular. 8 9 An appreciation of ritual anchors the paintings, which further prevents a total yield to the ephemeral. Throughout the body of work, symbols of ritual pervade: a bar of soap, a pack of cigarettes, totems and private shrines. For Herbelin, painting itself is a ritual, an act that helps cope with distance, because painting captures and documents at the same time as it creates a distance with reality. Herbelin’s gestural brushwork allows one to see her substance and humanity directly through each canvas, creating an intimate relationship between artist and viewer. There is a transparency to her work that allows her audience fully into the world Herbelin paints, with all of its nuances, imperfections, and stunning moments of beauty. In this way, her works become like icons themselves; icons of memory and of time.

 

 

Nathanaëlle Herbelin (b. 1989) is one of the most dynamic young painters working today. Her research-based process is grounded entirely in painting her entourage and her surroundings, resulting in work that builds bridges between the intimate and the political. Herbelin was invited to train at The Cooper Union, New York in 2015 and afterwards received her MFA from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (ENSBA) in 2016. Solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at Espace Bonnevalle, Noisy-le-Sec (2018), In-Box, Brussels (2018), and Jousse Enterprise, Paris (2017). She has also been included in numerous group shows including at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes (2018), who also includes her work among their permanent collection, The Collection Lambert, Avignon (2017), and the Fondation d’Enterprise Ricard, Paris (2017). She has been awarded the Colas Foundation Prize for Contemporary Painting, and the Yishu 8 French-Chinese Prize, as well as residencies in China, New York, Israel, and France. Born and raised in Israel, Herbelin divides her time between both Tel Aviv and Paris.

 

Isabelle Le Normand (b. 1980) is a curator and connector. Born in Tours, France, Le Normand splits time between New York City and Los Angeles. She received an MA in Art History from Pantheon Sorbonne University and an MA in Contemporary Curatorial Studies from Paris-Sorbonne University. She directed and curated the art program at the Paris non-profit Mains d’Oeuvres for six years before becoming an independent curator and consultant. In addition to Palais de Tokyo, Paris, she has collaborated with the Total Museum of Contemporary Art (TMCA) in Seoul, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Stroom den Haag in the Netherlands and a host of other private organizations