The exhibition ?mes noires 1980-1985? presented by baudoin lebon brings us back to the roots of the photographic work of Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand. This unpublished series, shown for the first time to the public marks a milestone in the career of the artist.
Considering his photographic device as a ?magic wand?, and citing Etienne Jules Marey as a major influence, Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand explores like a chemist in his laboratory the potential offered by the photographic medium.
Through his use of sophisticated techniques such as the Daguerreotype, rayograms, strobophotography or other inventions of his own, the artist reveals an imaginary that is poetic, playful and conceptual. Although sophisticatedly elaborated, his refined works return to the very essence of photography: by linking both science and esthetic research, Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand writes in his own unique way with light.
Born in 1945 in Paris, it is after obtaining a Master?s degree in Physical Sciences and ten years devoted to painting that the artist begins his photographic reflection around the series of ?Noires? in 1980. A work of genesis, these small prints on black cardboard serve as a bridge in his creative approach.
Mixing his passion for drawing and painting, the artist draws around each photo with lead pencil. This extension allows him to go beyond the possibilities offered by his new photographic device, and beyond what the "heavy theatre of reality" can offer.
Already seduced by the chemical reactions that warm the colors black and white, it is here that Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand begins his long process of exploring the infinite photographic possibilities. A major figure, his works are still exhibited in collections such as the MoMA in New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and the Victoria Museum in Melbourne.
