What is it that links the baseball players, boxers and other athletes, drawn with hyper-realist attention to detail, that people the canvases of Jessica Gandolf; a combination of sexual imagery and social tension that characterises the work of John Carey; strident colours and hand-written captions that tell of love and men in the paintings of Irène Hardwicke; the domestic interiors and nature studies for which Katherine Spitzhoff uses egg-based tempera to give a high-gloss finish; the pictures of John Spinks, a professor of linguistics, that incorporate printed paper, old book bindings and letters from his father? The only thing these artists have in common is their gallery of origin—the Bachelier-Cardonsky of Kent, Connecticut, USA—which has sent their work for the first time ever to Paris where it can be seen at Gianna Sistu for a month. Corinne Mercardier, photographer, draughtswoman and sculptress, who in recent years has concentrated on landscape, continues her explorations in scenes from her everyday life. The shots on show at the Isabelle Bongard in celebration of the “Mois de la Photo” are remarkable for their elusive light effects—a testimony to Mercardier’s patience. As always, her photos are virtually devoid of human presence, though the odd hint remains. Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert are also venturing into photography, showing “preparatory studies” by Andy Warhol for portraits and self-portraits. These snapshots, never previously exhibited, cover the period from Big Shot in 1971 until the final months of his life. The Warhol exhibition will continue until 9 January of next year, following on from recent geometrical compositions by Helmut Federle (on show until 14 November). “Art spoken here” is the title of a collective show being mounted, until 28 November, by Hélène de Roquefeuil. The exhibitors include Daniel Bonnal, de Velay & Partners, Charles Dreyfus and Joël Ducorroy. November 28 also sees the close of Michael Biberstein’s exhibition of recent landscape paintings at the Montenay. Until 5 December, the Louis Carré gallery is showing a series of works in watercolour and gouache by Jean Bazaine. Meanwhile, and until 14 December, Gilles Peyroulet is hosting the first solo exhibition in France of the American Ronald Jones, a neo-conceptual sculptor who manifests a special dislike of politically-committed art. Jones is to be followed by Udo Koch. Until 14 November, the Sous-sol, a new gallery inaugurated this autumn, is featuring large-scale canvases by Hervé Assuied, characterised by biomorphs and complex, restless patterns of bright colour, and video-sculptures by Dominik Barbier. These demand active participation on the part of the viewer, and an “initiation course” is provided by the Australian artist Cathy Vogan. Elisabeth Valley is presenting a first solo exhibition by Sébastien De Ganay, whose paintings incorporate jetsam of various kinds. Painting is also the order of the day at the Vidal-Saint Phalle, where William Mackendree is featured until Christmas Eve. Masayoshi Yamada, a Japanese artist now based in Paris, is as skilled in the medium of torn-up newspaper as in his use of brush and paints. An exhibition of his work, entitled “De l’Est à l’Ouest” (from East to West), is being shown by Claude Samuel. Until 27 November, Camille Saint-Jacques is exhibiting at the Innocenzi-Delsol. With the Apostles in mind, he has produced twelve wooden blocks, akin to children’s bricks, and lined them up on shelves. Eleven of these cubes, on which the knots and grain of the wood show through, bear silk-screen portraits far removed from traditional iconography, while the twelfth, representing Judas, is faceless. The Barbier-Beltz gallery, is home to Jean-Loup Trassard, who photographs the natural world, and Patrick Dubrao, who creates three-dimensional forms from a variety of “poor” materials and paints them in uniform white. Both exhibitions run from 14 November to 14 December. Thom Mayne’s “Morphosis on Los Angeles” continues its showing at Saddock & Uzzan, while at the Beaubourg Daniel Spoerri has brought together ten panel paintings fresh from the Universal Exhibition in Seville. Photographic self-portraits and collages by Claude Cahun, an anti-establishment figure of the early part of the century, are on show at the Zabriskie until 7 November, to be followed on the 12th by photographs by Paul Strand. Finally, Jutta Koether and Laurent Joubert are featured at the Laage-Salomon until 28 November; Nils-Udo is showing at the Claire Burrus; while the Jennifer Flay gallery accommodates a series of three-dimensional forms by Marylène Negro, with sound-track.
Originally appeared as 'Connecticut artists hit town'