by MARY-JANE GRIGGS
12 April to 6 May 2023
OPENING EVENT: Saturday 15 April, 4–6pm
Paris in winter, walking, the sky is very light, pale grey, almost white. On days when it’s drizzling you are in a haze. You’re also in a daze because it’s an amazingly lovely place to be.
So much formality and history to soak up or allow to wash over. So much that is familiar from books and films, to use in art can lead to cliches.
What did I bring home from there? A fascination with the very unnatural presentation of what is nature in much of historical, grand Paris. Parks, gardens, trees, shrubs and topiary are very mannered. They are the exotic in my eyes, in contrast to the classic sense of the ‘exotic’ that refers to places far away and unspoilt (un-Europeanised).
