Thursday 16 June at 12.30pm
Peeling, trimming, shelling... Just like a the gestures a sculptor makes, the art of preparing vegetables has a vocabulary all of its own. On this occasion, it all takes place in the hushed atmosphere of a Provençal kitchen, where turnips, cabbages, carrots tumble onto the canvas, from the vegetable plot to the table.... In this small genre painting of 1765, Antoine Raspal invites us to share in this simple, evergreen gesture.
Several artists from the collections have rolled up their sleeves - each bringing their own recipes - to the task of preparing the vegetables. In the Réattu museum, there's enough to plant a whole garden; the theme of growing and even botany is practically grafted onto the place.
Which is how we come to find the gentle intimacy of Edward Weston's artichoke, or Denis Brihat's golden onions in contemplation with the life-sized nakedness of Jacqueline Salmon's cauliflower.
Little by little, as we look on, we discover that the apparent ordinariness of the vegetable has prevented us from really seeing it, and we begin to view it differently. We see that it is a celebration of life. We no longer even think of it as a still life; it becomes a vanitas and, what is more, the subject of a genuine portrait.
After all that, it's clear that the art of hanging an exhibition is really like cooking. Just as one flavour is accentuated or toned down by another, works of art are ingredients that can be counter-balanced or opposed. In the middle of the room stands Rhizotopia, Laure Guilhot's very singular re-invention of the armchair - adding a spicy seasoning all of its own.
