Galerie Derouillon is pleased to present a new body of work by Alexandre Benjamin Navet for his fifth solo show with the gallery.

In the past years, Navet worked around the ornamental dimension in public space. He imagined for the Place du Commerce in Nantes a theatrical and colorful decor, inspired by its port and merchant history (2022); have collaborated to create worldwide large-format scenery with Van Cleef & Arpels (New York City’s Fifth Avenue with immersive floral installation, «Blooms», 2024). In March 2023, the artist had carte blanche at the National Assembly in Paris where he installed monumental sculptures.

Alexandre Benjamin Navet
Un dimanche animé, 2024
Pastel on wood
24 3/8 x 48 inches

Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Derouillon, Paris
© Grégory Copitet

With “L'invitation”, Alexandre Benjamin Navet invites us to an imaginary dinner captured from different angles, a poetic experience where each painting becomes an open door, like fragments of the same suspended moment. Navet extends the dialogue initiated with the public in urban space through his large-scale scenographic projects. This conversation, essential to his practice, takes on an intimate dimension here, where he invites us to join in this supper, to dream about what has been played out or what will happen.

This dramaturgy is expressed in his new way of conceiving his artworks. Cut-out pieces of wood are assembled to give relief to each flat-painted form, creating striking trompe-l'œil effects. Like Morandi's "interior landscapes", Navet explores the relationship between objects and space in scenes where every detail, from light to form to color, invites the viewer to immerse themselves in this warm atmosphere.Framed like small theaters, the artist introduces shadow play into his creations for the first time, making each object tangible and reinforcing the impression of an evening in motion. At the heart of this staging, the table symbolizes gathering and sharing, while the objects - plates, glasses, chairs - detached from the canvases, embody the silent actors of this invitation.

Alexandre Benjamin Navet → L'invitation