Removing the superfluous to keep only the essential; shifting an existing situation toward abstraction; constructing and deconstructing shapes that relate to space or to the idea of time – all these are aspects of Guillaume Perez’s work. The tensions at play between planes and colours, or the relationship between volume and space are the driving force behind a practice that resembles painting but in fact constitutes an attempt to approach the medium, history, language and parameters of painting without actually producing any. Painting as an object, but also as a form, a surface – minimalistic, often monochromatic, and geometrically flat. The materials used throughout this essentially pictorial process are of the highest importance.
Often salvaged and worn out, they are carefully selected for their potential as mediums. The artist adopts a historical perspective to shift the issue from plane to space: the forms developed by the avant-garde, modernism and minimalism are deconstructed until they become part of his artistic vocabulary. The use of fragments and miscellaneous elements, which, after making their way through the studio, will need to be readapted to each new environment, produces an aesthetic of instability. The resulting body of work combines a reflection on the practice of painting and its status with a conversation about the space that surrounds it.

Translated by Lucy Pons, 2020