Group Exhibition: “Body Double” at Ketabi Bourdet, Paris, France
Body Double (Group Presentation), Ketabi Bourdet, Curated by Penske Projects, Paris, France
November 28 - December 22, 2023
Kayla Witt, What’s Inside Matters, 2023. Oil on panel. 25 x 38”
Press Release
Ketabi Bourdet is delighted to invite Penske Projects to present «Body Double», a group exhibition highlighting the subject of figurative painting by emerging American and European artists. The works presented offer glimpses of the personal through the harmonious mingling of mundane physical presence and ethereal abstractions. From surface level to deeper fathoms, each featured piece seamlessly connects with this theme in intimate threads, drawn from the artists’ experiences. Interpretations stem from the intrapersonal, and the attempt to wrangle the metaphysical onto a plane where human understanding of these concepts is not as elusive.
Ideas of identity and subjectivity come to life in exquisite portraits. Moving beyond binary thinking, the exhibition strives to emphasize the diversity of subjects, complexities of biography, and array of individual characters that artists have been able to capture through various modes of figurative paintings. Meanings for «Body Double» vary just as much as the featured works—a substitute to protect an original, someone who matches perfectly with another, or merely a depiction of the multifaceted nature of human beings.
The title of the show comes from the eponymous movie directed by Brian de Palma in 1984 and set in Los Angeles, hometown of Penske Projects. In the cinema industry, a body double is used to replace the actor for stunts or nude scenes. As this exhibition focuses on figurative painting and representation of the body, the idea of a “body double” is an interesting illustration of the relationship between the painter and his painting, the projection of his own body on the canvas, realistic or fantasized, conscious or unconscious.
Participating Artists:
Max Xeno Karnig, Mie Olise Kjærgaard, Inès Longevial, Cecilia de Nisco, Paris Reid, Sissòn, Laura Watters, Kayla Witt