2001-2005
Tribute to Edmond Jabès and Paul Celan.
“N’oublie jamais que tu est un voyageur en transit.” Edmond Jabès
Strongly inspired by the philosophical and poetic readings of E. Jabès and P. Celan, the artist expresses through his painting the echo of their thoughts now made his own.
“Whether through the black smoke of candles or through the opalescent background of the ashes of nights and days, ephemeral and meagre remnants of some combustion that has slowly consumed the meaning of things even before their density of matter, Jean Marie Barotte’s work purpose is deeply embedded in something resembling an ecstasy of pitiless introspection, at the very root of the feeling of existence. His images move from a territory of expressive consciousness that one might consider pre-pictorial, or even pre-linguistic. In fact, the visual materials that compose and disturb them refer to a profound impulse, to a sort of unconscious that springs from the primordial laws of blood and instinct.” Giorgio Seveso