Outrenoir

Through multifaceted experimentation, walnut stain, oil paint, acrylic, and glass were the materials Pierre Soulages, one of the most celebrated artists of his generation, tirelessly confronted, until the emergence of his famous Outrenoir at the age of sixty, midway through his career. It was then that the canvas became a space where the artist worked with house painter’s tools, striating, gouging, and smoothing the surface to endlessly play with the light and reflections he so loved to create.
In tribute to this absolute artist, Outrenoir is a virtual reality artwork that takes us on a journey to discover the core elements of his practice. Built both as a chronological walk through the life, influences, and discoveries of Pierre Soulages, and as an abstract space where light guides our way, the narrative is punctuated by excerpts from interviews and writings from the painter. The Outrenoir experience offers an author’s perspective on the artist’s work, like an infinite mirror reflecting the traces he left behind. MAIN CREATOR’S STATEMENT Viewers are drawn into Soulages’ world, carried by a continuous movement, between the brilliance of prehistoric caves and the mysteries of the origins of painting. Childhood memories of the artist emerge, and the scale of perspective shifts: at times offering the intimacy of a blended pigment, at others the sweeping view of a vast composition. The master’s gestures become tangible; we are immersed in the substance at the precise moment the first Outrenoir is created. Light dances, slipping through stained glass to play with reflections deep within the canvas. With every step, the work comes to life, and spectators become the regardeurs, embodying the intimate fusion between art, music and the gaze.
I wish to offer a poetic experience, where the viewer can live a moment suspended in time, free from all constraints.