The debut solo show in France for Jenny Saville is presented by Gagosian. New artworks by Ed Ruscha, James Turrell, and Richard Serra will be on display at Gagosian’s other Paris sites in conjunction with the opening of Latent (Le Bourget). Gagosian will be delighted to take part in the Grand Palais Éphémère’s first Paris+ par Art Basel event from October 20 to October 23.
In her latest piece, Saville completely describes a technique she has developed in recent years in which she weaves together stenciled layers of paint, giving particular emphasis to the space between them, allowing an image to emerge. Instead of concentrating on the attainment of a predefined outcome, she does this by focusing on the creative function of instinct and possibility.
Artificial intelligence refers to the study of underlying structural similarities between visual data as “latent space,” which is a notion. Saville makes reference to this notion as she gives abstract passages shape and reveals a change from nature to civilisation. She paints from images of models, frequently highlighting specific body parts, and is renowned for monumental portraits and figures that explore the artistic potential of the human form in energizing and sensual impressions of surface, line, and mass. In addition, Saville makes references to a variety of historical periods in art, reinterpreting Renaissance drawing and painting, antique sculpture, the hues of Japanese shunga erotic prints and painted scrolls, and the works of contemporary masters like Henri Matisse and Willem de Kooning.
“Against Willem de Kooning’s famous adage ‘Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented,’” observes philosopher Emanuele Coccia of Saville’s earlier Sirens portraits, “Saville seems to suggest that painting is the sole reason why flesh was created.” Coccia also discusses the central role played by the notion of maternity through which a female body “transmits” physical flesh to others in Saville’s work. In Latent, Saville further extends this idea by representing her subjects as allegories of promised new life. There is an echo in Latent, too, of Michelangelo’s storied ability to perceive the finished form of an as-yet-“unextracted” sculpture in an uncarved block of marble. As in Saville’s practice in general, these images reflect, in their seemingly fluctuating status, the mutability and interconnectedness of human nature itself.