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iNEFFABLE STORIES
“Wagner, Méphistophélès et l’Homonculus” (2013), by Gérard Garouste. Courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon. Photo: B.Huet/Tutti
One painting in “Contes Ineffables,” French artist Gérard Garouste’s current exhibition of paintings and sculpture at the Galerie Daniel Templon (30 rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris; tel.: 01 42 72 14 10) seems representative of the themes shared by most of the works. It shows two figures – a man and another person wearing a donkey’s head – clasping one another on a chessboard in a kind of half-deconstructed church, watched from on high by several magpies. The figures seem to be half-dancing, half-fighting; and the presence of the chessboard suggests that their activity is a game in which they have engaged voluntarily. This distinctive and ambiguous relation of mutual dependency is tinged with weird affectation (the donkey head), a certain morbidity (the patient magpies) and a dose of humor (the figures’ legs are ridiculously intertwined, like spaghetti). The other works are just as fascinating – and very funny. Through Feb. 26. Harry Long
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