Documents towards an alternative kind of information works from the Centre National des Arts Plastiques
In view of the fact that several artists from the ENSP have made documentary forms, strategies and procedure central to their activities, this exhibition proposes to take stock of this fundamental aspect of contemporary work, using the collections of the Centre National des Arts Plastiques. The artists involved were at the school at different moments throughout its history. What they have in common is a way of seeing photography as a tool for critical comment on contemporary realities.
Their working methods are based on the demands made by an encounter, the necessity of a shared experience and the need to spend long hours working, without the pressures of speed and illustration. They have all made a specific decision to work in places that have both a geography and a history. Their use of images as a means of investigation has produced “a new narrative of the world”, as Riccardo Petrella put it.
