Last exhibition at the Château d’eau in Toulouse before closure due to expansion work, resident by adoption in Toulouse Arno Brignon returns to exhibit his American family stroll.
It’s all in the title, this Us for United States and for the we which brings together, here, the photographer’s daughter and companion, who were part of the trip.
The journey was organized all along twelve American cities with the same names as the capitals of Europe; Amsterdam, Lisbon, Berlin, Paris, Athens, London, Rome, Madrid etc…
“Looking at this country, born from settlers from Europe who expelled the natives, is looking at us too, as our ties are strong, and as our states are united for worse and for better.” A. Brignon
Sixty color and black & white photographs; Travel impressions, symbolic landscapes and intimate moments mixed into a kaleidoscope of atmospheres and sensations. This vast country and these endless roads, already extensively crisscrossed by a number of photographers including the Americans themselves, no longer seem to lead anywhere except to oneself; travel through space and the void to the inner world.
“He uses photography as a sensitive tool that allows him to share the relationship that is established, because he experiences them intensely and sensitively, between atmospheres, moments, and the emotions that they awaken in him” writes the artistic director of the place, Christian Caujolle, about him.
In Le Château d’eau collection, a publication bearing the same name as the exhibition, was produced by La main donne, an eclectic Aveyron publisher, very active since 2011.
This will be the last exhibition of the year – with that of Philémon Barbier “Rien à perdre” in the second gallery -; in fact the municipal gallery will then close for work, renovation and expansion of spaces.
This was a promise given while campaigning in 2020 by Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse. A major project will begin in the summer of 2024, worth almost 4 million euros. A new opening under the arches of the Pont Neuf will be created, where the administrative part will have office, freeing up new spaces for the gallery. However, the programming should continue from the Matou premises, in the nearby Saint-Cyprien district. The former poster museum, having closed its doors in spring 2023, will give way to the Château d’eau teams; the end of the work and the reopening of the famous brick building is planned for the fall of 2025.
Jean-Jacques Ader
“Us” exhibition by Arno Brignon, Le Château d’eau gallery in Toulouse until April 14, 2024
https://chateaudeau.toulouse.fr/
https://arno-brignon.fr/
https://www.lamaindonne.fr/
