Raphaël Barontini
The Night of the Purple Moon
Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, Chicago
23 January - 26 february 2021
RAPHAËL BARONTINI
Eweka 1, 2020
Acrylic, ink and silkscreen on canvas.
Courtesy Mariane Ibrahim.
Copyright © 2019 Mariane Ibrahim, All rights reserved.
Mariane Ibrahim presents a solo exhibition with RAPHAËL BARONTINI, The Night of the Purple Moon, marking the gallery’s inaugural presentation with the artist and his first solo gallery show in the United States.
The gallery will be transformed into a Galerie des Illustres, an otherworldly environment with large scale portraits on canvas, cloaks, chaps and flags. Fictional heroes and historical reinterpretations embellish subjects from classical and canonical histories: from the Caribbean, Voodoo and magical deities, to function as a way for formerly enslaved humans to hold on to their African identity, despite the violence of Western colonialism. Raphaël Barontini illuminates disparities in the visual and cultural history of the French Caribbean, which is rooted in African ancestry, yet virtually saturated with culture of an insular Caribbean.
The Night of the Purple Moon, is a lyrical coalescence of classical painting and fragments of contemporary culture. The paintings unveil works that adorn and disrupt the architype of heroes and, bestow a counter history and moment of reinvention of the Hero as an assemblage of various synergetic forces. The aim of this estrangement is primarily to alert the spectator of a different perception of the world; to renew the senses by distancing them from their conventional representations. The Night of the Purple Moon then becomes a place to nurture found freedom, creativity and pride.
Inspired by creatives such as Romare Bearden, and Hannah Höch who collaged a handful of materials and ideas to reflect the glitches of modern civilization during their time, Raphaël Barontini meticulously builds a vernacular language of symbolism, artifact, and ritual.
The Night of the Purple Moon, embraces a nocturnal environment, where vibrant purples imbued with magic and new possibilities in which narratives emerge to catalyze a forthcoming revolution. From works on canvas, to large scale textile pieces to wearable garments – the artist presents the possibility of a new visual language, while referencing modern technology. Mixing different eras, spaces and geographies, the composite portraits arise from different types of media.
RAPHAËL BARONTINI (b.1984, France; works and lives in Saint-Denis, France) is influenced by processes of creolization and the philosophies of French Caribbean thinkers. He intentionally depicts real and imaginative heroes from Africa and the Caribbean to present narratives that are under-represented in the dominant history of art. Raphaël Barontini’s installations become site specific, and his works draw attention to architecture by obscuring its legibility and orthodox arrangement, while reconstructing and sharing a sort of counter-history.
Raphaël Barontini’s practice involves bold silkscreens and digital prints that embellish a variety of materials including flags, banners, pennants, curtains, tapestries, capes and more. His primary medium is painting of which he uses to question the classical codes of the bi-dimensional medium. His works are immersive, and have been activated by live performances. They are also often creatively installed as standing or suspended objects. The large scenographies enable him to engage the spectrum of classical painting. The subjects, patterns, and archival material draw attention to postcolonial rhetorical questions and criticisms that confront history and emphasize its present day relevance within large scale streams of information and media.
Raphaël Barontini has exhibited work in galleries and institutions globally including MAC VAL Museum, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, The Pill, New Art Exchange Museum and the SCAD Museum of Art. He has also participated in international biennales in Bamako, Casablanca, Lima and Thessaloniki.
He was the 2020 artist in residence in Singapore for LVMH Métiers d’Art.
MARIANE IBRAHIM
437 North Paulina Street, Chicago, IL 60622
