Jean Pierre Raynaud

The Columns is pleased to announce the exhibition of Jean Pierre Raynaud’s Le Pot dore. The flower pot has been the leitmotif in Raynaud’s work and is produced in many versions of color and size. The immense golden pot that was displayed in the Forbidden City in Peking and the one that is in permanent view to the public in Centre du Pompidou earned him a great deal of publicity and fame. Raynaud’s first pot was created in the early sixties, which he painted red and filled with cement. It was during this period that the artists of Nouveau Realism were making works of art from all sorts of ordinary materials and objects. Like its counterpart in America, the American Pop Art, these artworks expressed the day-to-day reality and the banality of the Western consumer society. But in the case of Raynaud, despite the fact that he also makes use of materials from the everyday environment, the artist does not refer to the superficiality but the spirituality and inner strength of human existence. In this respect, Raynaud displays an affinity with that of Yves Klein in terms of the clear-cut color schemes and through the clarity of form and intensity of spatial experience, one might also find some similarity to Donald Judd’s works.

The pots on exhibition range from small versions of 17cm to an immense size of 195cm and will certainly offer various spatial experience and charm. The simple, yet strikingly vivid colors of red, blue, green, yellow and gold will show the viewers the serene depth of spirituality.

THE COLUMNS GALLERY Director, Dong Jo Chang