Thursday, May 2 at 6 p.m.
In the presence of Jean-Paul Philippe, sculptor, Alessandra Rey, editorial director, president of the association Site transitoire, Alessandro Griccioli, photographer, Marc Ceccaldi, translator, Giulia Perni, editorial director Sillabe, Camilla Maddii, assistant director Opera Laboratori
The Galerie is delighted to invite you to the presentation of the book Jean-Paul Philippe, Poète de l’espace, published by Sillabe-Opera Laboratori, a tribute to the sculptor Jean-Paul Philippe to mark the 30th anniversary of the installation of the monumental work Site transitoire in the Crete senesi. In conversation with Alessandra Rey, editorial director and president of the Site Transitoire association, Jean-Paul Philippe will talk about the book project, illustrated with numerous photographs by Alessandro Griccioli, who will also be present for this event.
In 2022, Jean-Paul Philippe’s work played a decisive role in the twinning between the commune of Asciano and the commune of La Roque d’Anthéron, which wished to commission a monumental work in dialogue with the Site transitoire entitled Résonances. Alessandra Rey approached photographer Alessandro Griccioli with a project designed to capture the sculptor’s poetics and celebrate his most emblematic monumental works. The black-and-white photographs retrace the journey from the Site transitoire to the creation of Résonances. They show the intimate world of the «La Bottega» workshop in Asciano, where Jean-Paul Philippe prepares the models, the splendid travertine quarries of Rapolano, where the work was created, and the installation site in La Roque d’Anthéron. In addition to the photographs from the Archéologie Intérieure exhibition at Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger in 2023, the Evidence(S) series for the first time reveals Jean-Paul Philippe’s recently installed studio in Périgny sur Yerres. The photographs were shown in the exhibition «Jean-Paul Philippe, poète de l’espace» at Jean-Paul Philippe’s Bottega in Asciano, then at Silvacane Abbey in La Roque d’Anthéron.
In addition, two interviews conducted by Alessandra Rey with Alessandro Griccioli and Jean-Paul Philippe evoke the stages of a work that establishes the artist in his poetic space and in his relationship with sculpted matter.
Literature is central to the artist’s work: the book is dedicated to the poet Bernard Noël, a long-standing companion; a text by Antonio Prete celebrates thirty years of Site transitoire and the friendship between writer and sculptor; and the very title of the book – «poet of space»- echoes the words of a dedication by Tahar Ben Jelloun to Jean-Paul Philippe on the occasion of an exhibition at the gallery.
Following the presentation, the artist will sign a limited edition with a numbered and signed image.
The bilingual book, in Italian and French, was produced by the Site transitoire association with the support of the Jeanne Bucher Jaeger gallery and the Patrimoine Art et Culture association.