Almine Rech New York, Upper East Side is presenting Sweet Nothings, Tursic & Mille’s seventh solo exhibition with the gallery, on view from January 11 to February 24, 2024.
With an artistic partnership spanning more than two decades, painters Tursic & Mille have been at the forefront of contemporary painting, redefining the limits of the medium in empirical work in which the materiality of paint, the concept, the process and images shape a personal way of thinking in painting. With their landscapes, erotica, portraits and abstract compositions, Tursic & Mille blur pre-existing hierarchies between all kinds of images, aiming to go forward with the history and genre of painting as it exists in the 21st century.
Their latest exhibition presents a profound exploration of painting itself through five series of new works:
The exhibition opens with a thought-provoking piece titled Mouse. The artists discovered a deceased rodent amidst their paper images, a poignant symbol of overconsumption and, by extension, the human condition. This incident inspired a series of paintings, titled Eaten by the Mouse, each preserving accidental compositions. Notably, the show will include a still life born from the unexpected collaboration with the mouse.
Tursic & Mille’s practice evolved from image reproduction to a profound exploration of the image as an object. Over time, the Torn Papers models used for painting, damaged and transformed in the process, became captivating new subjects. Portraits, landscapes, and more transformed into engaging still lifes, marking a shift in perspective that challenges traditional definitions of art.
The Papers are a unique collection of abstract paintings. These A3-sized sheets serve as a spaces for wiping brushes and testing colors during painting sessions. These accidental, unconscious artworks have been accumulated for over twenty years, and are showcased here for the first time.
A wooden board used to scraping paintings and pallettes takes on new significance with Sisyphus. Consisting of leftover paint and attempts accumulated over the years, this temporal mass explores the question of “making” and perhaps also, “why make?” The piece explores the essence of art as an obstinate act of creation and a manifestation of the human need to understand the world.
The series Sentimental Paintings, initiated during the pandemic, explores the accumulation of syntactic elements of painting, combining abstraction, figuration, and words. Old advertising images from the postwar period serve as source material, reflecting the optimism and carefree attitude of that era, simultaneously touching and kitschy with happiness and lightness. Other figurative elements can be added, contradicting or emphasizing the initial representation. Contrasting with contemporary geopolitical realities, the artists introduce positive words, often
accompanied by drips, with a certain sense of humor.
Tursic & Mille were the recipients of the Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca prize in 2020 and the Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard Prize in 2009. They were also nominated for the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2019.
