Philippe gronon

About

Since the late 1980s, French photographer Philippe Gronon has been developing a body of work with a view camera. From shutter release to print, he has combined the specific resources of gelatin silver and digital processes in accordance with the planned result. His subjects have been those that have a function of physical or mental transition, of exchange, passage, or communication (elevator doors, X-ray plates, blackboards, lithographic stones, etc.). Working in black and white, each object was photographed frontally, filling the whole image, eliminating any context, anecdote, or picturesqueness.

Versos, begun in 2005, therefore constitutes a logical sequel to the series that preceded it.  Working for the first time in color, Gronon has photographed the backside of paintings by modern masters, presenting each work at actual size. At the same time, however, they effect a kind of reversal of perspective. By choosing paintings (based purely on the aesthetic of the verso side), Gronon has taken an object whose value lies, precisely, in its façade, and yet, here what he shows is not the front, as with his other objects, but the back. Because these are paintings, color is de rigeur, as is the way he surrounds the image with white, as in traditional photography. Suddenly, instead of showing us the obverse, he takes us behind the scenes, approaching the masterpiece via the scullery, the wings, the nuts, the bolts. This becomes more risky when the identity of the recto becomes known and is accompanied by more and more noteworthy information (signatures, markings, museum labels, etc.). The documentary interest also grows and threatens to overwhelm. The greater this interest, the longer it takes us to really look at the photographic work. This predominance of the anecdotal is necessarily heightened by the fame and popularity of the referent.

But never in his work does Gronon strain for effects, or seek to provoke emotion. He strives to grasp the object, which is meticulously chosen and meticulously framed, with the greatest legibility or—in photographic terms—with the best possible definition. There is, for this, no privileged moment, as there is in the photography of events. The meaning of what the photograph conveys is never either betrayed or hidden. But it is, although fixed in its literal obviousness, disconnected from its context and from the function that is its raison d'être.

Philippe Gronon has exhibited widely in Europe including solo shows at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (1997), Centre Régional d'art Contemporain, Montbéliard, France (2001 and 2013), Mamco Geneva (2003 and 2010), Villa Medici, Rome (2010), Musée des beaux-arts, Nantes (2010), Musée des Beaux arts de Dijon & Musée Magnin Dijon (2012), Musée Picasso, Paris (2016), and in group exhibitions, including La Force de l'Art and Grand Palais (2006), Centre Pompidou (2006 and 2007), Foundation Prada (2014), and currently at the Musée de Grenoble.

Select exhibitions:

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2020
- Proofreading, Photographs by Philippe Gronon , Galerie Dutko, Paris

2019
- Philippe Gronon, Versos, Galerie Modernism, San Francisco
- In the Front of the Back - Retournements, Sotheby's, Paris

2018
- Philippe Gronon, Adresse du Printemps de Septembre , Toulouse
- Complément d'Objet Direct,Proposal by Philippe Gronon & Eric Schmitt, Galerie Dutko,Paris

2016
-Philippe Gronon. “Révéler“, Musée Picasso-Paris

2014
-On / Off, Galerie Barnoud - Entrepôt 9, Quétigny

2013
-In & out, Maison des Arts de Grand Quevilly
- Closer,Le 19 Center Régional d'Art Contemporain, Montbéliard

2012
- On the other side, Dijon Museum of Fine Arts & Magnin Dijon Museum
- Playing on 2 Paintings,Galerie Barnoud, Dijon

2010
- Reversals, Museum of Fine Arts, Nantes
- On the back of the images. The object of photography , Mamco, Geneva
- Philippe Gronon - L'altro lato , Villa Medici, Rome

2009
- Versos , Galerie Georges Verney-Carron, Lyon

2008
- Untitled , Yossi Milo Gallery, New York
- Versos , galerie Dominique Fiat , Paris
- Photographs , Maison de la culture, Bourges

2006
- Up and Down , Georges Verney-Carron gallery and Jean-Michel Wilmotte (Odéon 5), Paris

2003
- Ornicar! , Mamco, Geneva

2002
- La Maison des arts, Malakoff

2001
- Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou
- Le 19, Regional Center for Contemporary Art, Montbéliard
- Frac Franche-Comté, Museum of Fine Arts, Lons-le-Saunier
- Granit Theater / Scène nationale, Belfort
- Galerie Barnoud, Dijon

1998
- Galerie Serge Le Borgne, Paris

1997
- National Library of France, Richelieu site, Paris
- Galerie Barnoud, Dijon

1994
- Ecritoires, Bibliothèque nationale , Tracy Williams, Paris

1993
- Galerie Georges Verney- Carron, Villeurbanne

1992
- Galerie Gabrielle Vitte, Ajaccio

1990
- Galerie de l'École, Villa Arson, Nice

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2021 
- "Black and White: An aesthetic of photography", Bnf - National Library of France - Grand Palais, Paris 
- "Time rediscovered", Villa Tamaris, La Seyne sur Mer 

2020 
- La Fabrique des collections, 10 Years of acquisitions of the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon,  Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon

2019
- Travel souvenirs. The collection of Antoine de Galbert, Musée de Grenoble
-The art market under the Occupation, 1940 - 1944, Shoah Memorial, Paris
-Photographs and documents - 1983 to 2018,
    A history of the regional Fonfs collection contemporary art, FRAC PACA, Marseille

2018
-Introduction - works from the Frac Alsace,Les Ateliers de la Seigneurie, Andlau
- Printer proofs. Prints by Atelier Franck Bordas,Bnf,  National Library of France - François Mitterand Site - Paris 
- Complément d'Objet Direct, Proposal by Philippe Gronon & Eric Schmitt, Galerie Dutko, Paris

2017
- Fruits de la Passion, Entrepôt 9 / Galerie Barnoud - Quétigny
- In this case- CEEAC - European Center for Contemporary Artistic Actions, Strasbourg
- Le Palais Lascaris: Revisited !,Palais Lascaris, Nice

2016 
-   Everything Happens Somewhere - Landscape Strategies , Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne 
-   Connected , La Centrale for contemporary Art, Brussels 
- All the Paintings are upside down , Entrepôt 9, Galerie Barnoud, Quétigny

2015 
-  Critical mass, Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris
-   City Lives , Shirley Fiterman Art center, New York 
-  Recto Verso, Prada Foundation, Milano 

2014 
-  Philippe Gronon, Cornelia Parker, Heather Rowe, Greg Shephard, Julia von Eichel
      Lucien Terras. 143 Reade Street, New York 
-   From stone to screen, A printed route, Studio Franck Bordas, Paris
     Center for Engraving and Printed Image, La Louvière, Belgium 
-   The Wall, The Antoine de Galbert collection , Maison rouge Foundation, Paris 
-   Where does the future begin? Galerie des Ponchettes, Mamac Collection, Nice
-  Les Choses - vol.2, Frac Franche-Comté, Besançon

2013 
-  New Positions , Gallery Thomas Zander, Cologne 
-  Pieces shown , Frac Alsace, 30 years of collection, MAMCS Stasbourg 
-   The Photographic Eye , Major works from the photographic collections of the National Center for Plastic Arts, 
     Frac Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand 
-   Des images comme des oiseaux, Fnac collection, Friche de la Belle de Mai, Marseille 
- Cycle l 'Eternal detour, spring 2013 sequence, 
     Midnight sharing , an exhibition in the collection, Mamco, Geneva

2012
-  Regards sur la ville 1, Galerie Georges Verney-Carron, Lyon 
-  The spectacle of nature, works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection Departmental area of ​​Garenne Lemot Gétigné-Clisson 

2011
-  Library Science, Artspace in New Haven, Connecticut, United States 
- Common goods, Mamco, Geneva 
- A disturbing strangeness, Musée des Beaux arts de Nantes 
-  Freeze frame , Mamac collections , Galerie des Ponchettes, Nice 
- Bang Bang, CCA - Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
-  Echoes , Swiss Cultural Center, Paris 
- Rock it - One to One Festival , Galerie François Barnoud, Dijon 

2010
-  Le Sourire du chat (opus 2) , Frac des Pays de la Loire, Nantes 

2009
-  Forgetting the horizon ring , works from the Frac Bourgogne collection 
- Hôtel-Dieu / Musée Greuze, Tournus 
-  90 ' , collection of Frac Franche-Comté, Royal Saltworks, Nicolas Ledoux Institute, Arc-et-Senans 
-  What is to see is what you see , Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles 
    Recent acquisitions by the Cabinet des estampes et de la photographie de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris 
-  Trivial Abstract , Villa Arson, Nice
-  What remains is the future, Maison de la culture d'Amiens, modern and contemporary collection of the Musée de Picardie, Amiens 

2008
-  45 Mille Baci from Bubaque , Archipel des Bijagos, Guinea-Bissau 
-  Upsa Dream , Nathalie Obadia gallery, Paris 
-  Le Pouvoir de la photographie (Power of Photography) , 21 contemporary French photographers, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul, Korea 
-  Waiting for Ypudu , Galerie Barnoud, Dijon 

2007
-  Photographs, new acquisitions 2003 - 2007 , Center Pompidou, Musée national d ' modern art, Paris
- Fiac 2007, Cour carrée du Louvre, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris 
- Paris Photo, Carrousel du Louvre, Galerie Dominique Fiat, Paris 
-  Nice to Meet You , Mamac, Nice 

2006
-  The Painters of Modern Life , Center Pompidou, National Museum of modern art, Paris 
-  La Force de l'Art , Grand Palais, Paris 
-  Profiles. 15 years of artistic creation in France , Péra Museum, Istanbul then Benaki Museum, Athens 

2005
-  Various Objects , Grands Bains-Douches de la Plaine gallery , Marseille 
-  Screen paintings , Filles-du-Calvaire gallery, Paris / Brussels 
- Enchanté château , Fondation pour l'art contemporain Claudine and Jean-Marc Salomon, Alex 
-  Par amour , Art 45-Préfiguration, Galerie Georges Verney-Carron, Lyon 
-  Lithographic stones , One Man show in Paris Photo, Studio Franck Bordas, Paris 
-  Gestures, traces and other signs , International Center for Contemporary Art, Carros 

2004
-  For the birds , in homage to Jean-François Taddei, Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou 
-  Images which would only be semblance. Written Photography , Passage de Retz, Paris 

2003
-  Imago , Frac Franche-Comté, Dole 
- Recent acquisitions , Frac Bretagne collection, Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Bignan 
-  Trace, Archive, Mémoire , Sélest'art, Sélestat 

2002
-  Landscape in today's art , Maison de la culture de Bourges 

2001
-  Crossed views , works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection, Musée d'art contemporain 
    de Montréal 2000 
-  Opposite accords , works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection, Bouvet-Ladubay / Saumur 
-  A world in a nutshell , FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille 

1999
-  From gold to neon,works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection, Fontenay-le-Comte 

1998
-  The Stolen Table Hypothesis , Mamco, Geneva 
-  Paintings of a History , Villa Arson, Nice 
-  A History of Circumstances , Le Triangle, Rennes 
-  Never too many images , works from the Frac des Pays de la Loire collection, Saint-Jean-de-Monts 

1997
-  Points of view , FRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille 
-  Workshop , national center of photography, Paris 
-  1 minute scenario , Printemps de Cahors 
-  Photography in the present, National Library of France, Site Tolbiac, Paris 

1995
-  Aperto 95 / After Nice , Mamco, Geneva 
-  Villa (s) 6 , Villa Medici, Rome / Villa Lemot, Clisson 

1994
-  Tribute to Pierre Puget, naval decorator and marinist , Palais Neptune, Toulon 

1993
-  L'École de Nice , Center culturel de Montrouge, Montrouge 
-  Les Passants du phalanstère , Villa Arson, Nice 
-  Café de Paris , La Remise, Vienne, Austria 

1992
-  Ateliers 92 , ARC, Museum of modern art of the City of Paris 
- The Mysteries of the Spanish Inn , Villa Arson, Nice 
-  Towards a Photographic Attitude , Collection of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Paris 

1991
-  The Head of Obsidian , Fort Napoléon, La Seyne-sur-Mer 
-  The Colors of the 'money , Musée de la Poste, Paris 
-  Germination 6 , Musée Ludwig, Aachen, Germany

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:

- Musée national d'art moderne Georges Pompidou, Paris
- Musée du Louvre, Paris
- Mamco, Musée d'art contemporain de Genève, Switzerland
- Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Mamac, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Nice
- Museum of Fine Arts of La Chaux-de Fonds, Switzerland
- Museum of Fine Arts of Nantes
- Museum of Picardy, Amiens
- Museum of Fine Arts of Dijon
- National Library of France, Paris
- National Art Fund Contemporary, Puteaux
- Departmental Museum of Roche-sur-Yon
- European House of Photography, Paris
- Frac des Pays de la Loire, Clisson
- Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Marseille
- Frac Franche-Comté, Besançon
- Frac Bretagne, Châteaugiron
- Frac Bourgogne, Dijon
- Frac Alsace, Sélestat
- Municipal collection of the City of Paris

SCHOLARSHIP & RESIDENCY:

2003-2004
- ISCP (International Studio & Curatorial program), New York, Fiacre & Culturesfrance grant

1994-1995
- Resident of the Villa Medici, Rome

AVAILABLE WORKS