Jean-Simon Raclot

While Jean-Simon Raclot has recently begun working on large-scale canvases, the better part of his output usually relies on the use of "small" formats, which construct a world where nature becomes an unnerving object of fascination. His meticulous and thorough depictions sometimes appear as unfathomable chasms, and sometimes as impenetrable and stifling canopies – indeed, trying to fit the infinity of the plant realm into a canvas sometimes hardly bigger than a single sheet of paper is likely to generate friction zones. Various elements occasionally disrupt the luxuriance of these horizonless landscapes – a staircase, a road..., like signs of a possible opening, of a direction, an escape. To this fragmented vision, Jean-Simon Raclot opposes a method of self-exploration through painting.