Edouard Sacaillan

WE

13 February - 6 June 2020

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Edouard Sacaillan’s first solo exhibition focused exclusively on the theme of 'spectators' was held at Kalfayan Galleries in Thessaloniki in 2008. The 2020 gallery show in Athens manifests the endless, hearty and multi-faceted inspiration of the artist, who is researching the theme of ‘spectators’ from a sociological and philosophical viewpoint. Incarnating the existential anxiety of the modern man, Sacaillan’s 'observers' star in scenes from everyday life. The environments and themes of the ‘spectators’ are enriched and the urban landscape plays a dominant role in the works presented in the exhibition: images from the subway, daily traffic jams or long queues at tram stations.

 

"People together, with their full individual characteristics, are depicted standing or sitting together, at a distance from us, immobile or in motion, in the foreground, who”, as Sacaillan points out, “embody in particular the particularity and uniqueness. Everybody is so different and at the same time everyone is the  same, in the sense that while we all seem to be very different we are all alike."

 

The experience of 'observation' and the interconnection of experiences, emotions and thoughts are achieved by painting mastery and through the rendering of the idiosyncratic expressions of each 'spectator'. At the same time, in the exhibition 'We', the spectators of the Sacaillan, instead of having lost all means of communication and social interaction, are essentially coexisting and psychologically connected to each other more than ever before, as individuals communicating on a social level. Pursuing not only the emotional but also the intellectual connection as a whole, as a company and as citizens, they observe now us-the visitors of the exhibition. They are persons alive in front of our eyes, like us, in dialogue with us, in a two-way and interactive relationship through painting.

 

The different faces of the spectators also compose a contemporary portrait of society, demonstrating the vital desire for social engagement through the painting of E. Sacaillan. His paintings show the love of fellow men, "against nihilism related with futility and loneliness arising from a criticism which rejects."

 

The human forms of Sacaillan reflect the deep love of the artist and therefore the thorough study of ancient sculpture and painting, various manifestations of early Christian art and manuscripts, as well as Armenian art and artists such as Bonnard, Hopper, O. Dix, Picasso and de Chirico. At the same time combining abstract art with realism, Sacaillan attempts to return to an ancient world where, as he states, "observation, virtue and ideal/hope will be combined".