Pol Taburet in the mind’s abyss – stages of trauma and occultism

Silent dramaturgies mix the symbolism of European painting with American rap, contemporary subcultures, and Afro-Creole quimbois. Pol Taburet at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris

Lafayette Anticipations in Paris – Painter Pol Taburet’s creatures 

In painter Pol Taburet’s stormy opera, distressing faces meet primary color, animals encounter dental grills, and fairy fantasies end up becoming living nightmares. At twenty-six years old, Taburet is the strange bird of France’s painting scene.

After graduating from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure D’Art, the young man won the first edition of the Reiffers Art Initiative’s Prize, got offered to be represented by the French gallery Balice Hertling and by the Brazilian Mendes Wood DM (São Paulo, Bruxelles, New York). In 2022, he presented a first exhibition at the gallery Clearing in Los Angeles. Today, Pol Taburet is introducing in his hometown Paris a first solo exhibition in an institution. 

OPERA III: ZOO «The Day of Heaven and Hell» at Lafayette Anticipations, Paris

Entitled OPERA III: ZOO «The Day of Heaven and Hell», the show is presented at Lafayette Anticipations, a general interest foundation that supports contemporary creatives to produce, experiment and exhibit. For this solo show, the painter gathered his well-known painting work while introducing for the first time some sculptures and installations. This exhibition «is the latest chapter in a cycle dedicated to the powers of the imagination, here suspended somewhere between heaven and hell», said the curator Elsa Coustou.

Originally from Guadeloupe, his practice seamlessly fuses diverse inspiration; from Caribbean mythology and beliefs, to the rich art history, or the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary culture such as animated cartoons, TV series, or music videos. Pol Taburet delves into the interplay between the human, the animal body, and the surrounding objects, examining their coexistence within domestic spaces and the transitions between the inanimate and the animate. From his unique creatures emanate a sense of mysterious power, igniting our imagination and inviting us to explore their captivating presence.

Pol Taburet – A first act introducing dramatic and passionate paintings 

In OPERA III: ZOO «The Day of Heaven and Hell», his very own human bestiary unfolds from scene to scene throughout the Foundation’s two floors. «The pointy-headed figures are at the core of my research. I construct a myth, a narrative around these characters», said the artist about his truly recognisable creatures. Born within a realm of intimacy, a space that encompasses the domestic, yet also transcends into memory, dreams, and fantasy, these ethereal dark-skinned entities infuse life into the exhibition spaces of the Fondation. Taburet will explain, «The bright colors are applied with acrylic paint on the inert and the living is characterized by airbrush painting». 

Displayed on the first floor, the first act includes mostly paintings putting the relationship structures into the spotlight and revealing a landscape far from serenity. Most paintings portray a raw and intense vision of human dynamics, oscillating between scenes of attraction and repulsion, seducing viewers while also hinting at potential danger. Ambiguity permeates the artwork, showcasing the delicate balance between the violence within relationships and the pleasure they provide.

«I want to show tragic and dramatic moments of life that are full of passion. This manifests itself in romantic drama as well as in the sexual and animal drive inherent in every individual. My painting depicts the violence, but also the fragility of being», explains the young painter. 

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Lafayette Anticipations, Rem Koolhaas’ OMA

Encouraged by Lafayette Anticipations to take the great leap and create his first sculpture, Taburet received help from the production workshops located on the basement floor of the foundation, and created it with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his agency OMA.

Pol Taburet – Soul Trains and Belly

«Sculpture has always been in my head, but it was impossible to achieve. For the exhibition, it was a real process of maturation which took time and allowed me to arrive at these forms, somewhere between the object and the animal or human body», explains the artist before adding, «I am fascinated by the object: an object in space has a force, it influences our movement, our body, our gaze. It dialogues with us». 

The result is five different incredibly successful installations. Of which, Soul Trains (2023) an anthropomorphic sculpture attached to a child’s cart, or Belly (2023), a large fountain symbolizing fertility and immortality, which is also an homage to Taburet’s mother. Talking about his fountain sculpture, Pol Taburet explains, «[it] evokes something light with its pure lines, but also something threatening, dangerous, heavy in the choice of materials. It is this impact and visual contrast that I look for in my work».

Pol Taburet – Ô… Trees

The group of oblong sculptures Ô… Trees (2023), with shape reminiscent of cypress trees, dildos, or artillery shells – or an ambiguous mix of the three– have been sculpted with faces resulting from a 3D scan of Taburet’s own muse his girlfriend. The sculptures have eyes but no pupils, confronting the viewers with lifeless bodies and putting them in a space of discomfort. 

Transforming the Foundation Lafayette Anticipations 

All along the exhibition, a metaphor of the home is being repeated through a smartly immersive scenography created by the agency Matière Noire. Appropriating Taburet’s color palette, the set designer created small rooms in which the coloured carpet floor took the place of the painting’s background. The visitor acts as an observer of those augmented paintings, while also becoming one of its characters.

«Creating a domestic interior is a way for me to present a space that is alive and provokes different reactions. Transforming the Foundation in this way makes the viewer feel like an intruder, immersed in someone else’s interior», explains Taburet. 

Pol Taburet – My Dear and Fork Melody

The installation My Dear –which occupies a central place in the second act of the exhibition– takes place inside a temple filled with architectural references, such as the Parisian opera house classical style. In that scene, a dining table shrouded in a white tablecloth unveils two sphynx paws with bared claws. Simultaneously hyper-realistic and cartoonish, it’s as if the animal had fused with the table, transforming it into a monstrous entity that defies conventional perception.

Sitting opposite to it is Fork Melody (2023), a group of oversized timeworn nails sculptures, confined in a small room framed by curtains. Keeping up with the house metaphor, «Those would be the traumas and injuries that families chose to store or hide», said the artist. From a spectator’s point of view, those nails appear enormous and in deployment, as Alice in Wonderland stuck in the dollhouse while becoming gigantic. In fact, the entire exhibition acts as a Lewis Carroll sort of trip into the artist’s underworld.

Elsa Coustou coordinator of the Public Programme at Lafayette Anticipations

Curated by Elsa Coustou, coordinator of the Public Programme at Lafayette Anticipations since 2021 and ex-contemporary British art curator at the Tate Britain in London, this first solo show of Pol Taburet enters the foundation guiding principle to promote young and promising talent. 

With simultaneous exhibitions at Balice Hertling Echoes from us, on view until July 13th in Paris and an inclusion in a Florian Krewer-curated group show at Michael Werner, Birds Follow Spring this summer, Pol Taburet has firmly established himself as an artist to keep a keen eye on. Now more than ever, his sculpture works are cementing his position within the art world and we can only sit and wait for what the French prodigy will be presenting next. 

OPERA III: ZOO «The Day of Heaven and Hell» – first solo show 

OPERA III: ZOO “The Day of Heaven and Hell” is Pol Taburet’s first solo exhibition in an institution. The artist is presenting paintings as well exploring new mediums such as sculpture and installation. The works, many of which are new, create an itinerary that unfolds from scene to scene throughout the Foundation.

The show will be on view until September 3, 2023 at Lafayette Anticipations in Paris.

Anna Prudhomme