March 10, 2020

Claude Rutault Brings Seasonal Paintings to Pacific Design Center in L.A.

dé-finition/method: monochromes, 1994. Paint on canvas. Variable dimensions according to the actualization. Exhibition view of “Picasso/Rutault. Grand Écart” at Musée Picasso, Paris, 2018. Photography by Claire Dorn; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.

French artist Claude Rutault holds an impressive curriculum vitae. A partial list of achievements includes solo shows at the Pompidou Center, Picasso Museum, and Museum of Modern Art or MAM, all in Paris; the Modern and Contemporary Art Museum or MAMCO in Geneva; the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo; and the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst in Gent. Several group exhibitions count, too.

Portrait of Claude Rutault. Photography courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. 

At 78 years old, the artist is still going strong and will make his southern California debut at Los Angeles’ Pacific Design Center Design Gallery later this month. Bringing together works from the 1970s through the ‘90s, the exhibit will feature wall-hung pieces and canvases dangling from the ceiling, the latter from his 1994 series de-finition/method: puppets.

For the gallery’s second floor, Rutault is creating a site-specific installation called seasonal paintings, which also serves as the show’s title. The work includes canvases of varying shapes, sizes, and colors arrayed on the floor. Viewers are meant to circumnavigate these works, much as they might meander through an orchard or grove, according to the artist. Further, the canvases will be L.A.-sourced and donated to a local art school at the show’s close. It runs from March 19 through June 28.

de-finition/method “puppets”, 1994. Paint on canvas. Variable dimensions according to the actualization. Photography by Antoine Cadot, Collection Billarant, Paris; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
de-finition/method: “puppets”, 1994. Paint on canvas. Variable dimensions according to the actualization. Exhibition view of “monochrome 5 sur une grille de marelle” at Fondation CAB Bruxelles, Belgium, 2019. Photography by Virginie de Borchgrave, Collection Billarant, Paris; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. 
dé-finition/method: monochromes, 1994. Paint on canvas. Variable dimensions according to the actualization. Exhibition view of “Picasso/Rutault. Grand Écart” at Musée Picasso, Paris, 2018. Photography by Claire Dorn; courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.

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