In her exhibition 'Between Phantasia and Phainesthai',Tatyana Murray presents a recent series of transparent plexiglas boxes bordered by LED neons. Diffusing a phantom light, these neon LEDs reveal trees and leaves, but also human or animal skulls etched into multiple layers of glass, the overlapping of which gives life to the images.
As a newcomer to the 6th arrondisse-
ment of Paris, JAS Gallery was
inaugurated in October 2010 by Jessy
and Alec Sellem, who have made their
passion for contemporary art a family
affair. The brother and sister team
has chosen the mission of offering a
privileged window in France—at 17 rue
des Saints Pères—on artists already
known abroad.
From 10 March to 25 April, JAS Gallery
will give Tatyana Murray her first
personal exhibition in France, entitled
"Between Fantasia and Phainesthai".
Born in London in 1973,Tatyana Murray
studied at the British Academy of Arts
in London and then studied sculpture at
the Studio School of New York, where
she now lives and works. Her works
have always been shown in New York,
particularly at the PS1, and in Vienna,
Venice, Barcelona, and now in Paris.
Light as an essential medium
In her exhibition "Between Phantasia and Phainesthai",Tatyana Murray presents a recent series
of transparent plexiglas boxes bordered by LED neons. Diffusing a phantom light, these neon
LEDs reveal trees and leaves, but also human or animal skulls etched into multiple layers of
glass, the overlapping of which gives life to the images. Subjected to the variations in intensity
of the neon LEDs, these images float in their boxes, appearing to vacillate between a wish to
appear and a wish to disappear.
She explains: “I use the most advanced technology with classical drawing techniques. Light is
the main source of the work, which also addresses the issue of time. Scratch marks are etched
into the multiple layers of glass. The light above refracts off the markings creating a three di-
mensional quality. Once the light is off, the image disappears.”
Tatyana Murray portrays symbols of life and death as if to capture Time which, irremediably,
leads all things to their demise, as if to explore man's desire to control nature.
Making visible the revelatory power of light, which enlightens both things and ideas equally,
she plays with notions of perception between sensing apparition (phainesthai) and imagination
(fantasia).
While her artworks create a delicate tension between the solid and the ethereal, the traditional
and the experimental, nostalgia and potential, Tatyana Murray pushes us to meditate on nature
and its beauty, complex and fragile.
PRESS CONTACTS Sylvia Beder
Tel. : +33 (0)1 42 18 09 41- sylvia@sylviabeder.com
Opening 10 march - 6pm to 9pm
JAS Gallery
17 rue des Saints-Pères 75007 Paris