Gilles Barbier’s art is simultaneously a word on the tip of the tongue, an idea at the back of the mind, and a chiaroscuro between two intervals of light. There is no “window on the world”, a metaphor applied to painting ever since Alberti forgot to close his; with Barbier there is a skylight in a cosmos as singular as it is infinite, a thought that leads to a system, as extraordinary as it is abundant, for re-enchanting the world.

For his 12th solo show at the gallery, Barbier has created a series of drawings, the titles of which start with prepositions – Between, inside, behind, under, on… – that are making the (art) world think in every direction.
Born in Vanuatu (Oceania, South Pacific), the artist has always been fascinated by the sand drawings; these drawings take shape while a story is told, and are a form of writing that can be read in any direction. A “preposition” is a word that serves as a tool that syntactically links a word with the one preceding it, in a subordinating relationship. Position matters, explains Barbier. Between, inside, behind, under, on… These prepositions are all movements Barbier makes around subject matter buried within a complex system; like a wave that churns everything in a ceaseless flow, a maelstrom.

Alberta Pane Gallery is pleased to present the third solo exhibition by the Italian artist Michelangelo Penso. In the Paris gallery, the interactive sculpture Human vibe accompanies a series of prints on aluminium, rubber and wood.

Michelangelo Penso’s aesthetics is inhabited by macro and micro-organisms. His work is strongly inspired by scientific iconography, mostly coming from mathematics, genetics, and astrophysics. His artworks, created from industrial materials such as polyester, rubber, resin or aluminium, evoke DNA chains as well as constellations and planetary systems.

Human vibe consists of a small meteorite-like mineral object equipped with a system of touch sensors, which send out sound frequencies according to captured vibrations. By interacting with Human vibe, we can “tune in” to a flow of information emitted by our body, which is normally undetectable for us. Interaction develops by touching both sides of the sculpture, which are coated with tin to enable capturing the electrical response from the skin (GSR). The enclosed technology (microcomputer, sensors, miniature audio systems) processes these signals continuously and makes the sculpture react with sound and vibrations.

Human vibe, located in the center of the exhibition space, is surrounded by a series of paintings (Frequencies) showing astro-seismograms coming from recordings of electromagnetic radiations emitted by three planetary systems (HD 10180, HIP 41378, TRAPPIST-1 ).

Stars, as human bodies, generate vibrations which can be recorded by specific sensors. These scientific discoveries provide today a better understanding of the functioning and composition of astronomical bodies. The exhibition Frequencies attempts to translate the invisible complexity of physical and biological interactions into a perceptible form or language. The artist invites us to become aware of the vibrations sent out by microscopic, human, and astronomical bodies. He encourages us to consider the reactions that these vibrations trigger in the elements that surround us on very different scales. As in a scientific laboratory, this exhibition allows to experience the imperceptible resonances that we produce. It also invites to look attentively at the shapes of the invisible frequencies of stars and planets.

Relations between humans and technological systems take an increasingly significant place in Michelangelo Penso’s latest research. In this context, he proposes us to experience frequencies, which link the infinitely big and the infinitely small: two systems that are invisible to the human eye.