French artist Mathilde Denize is presenting a captivating new exhibition that celebrates the freedom found in visual ambiguity and mysterious imagery. Her multilayered works, spanning textiles, objects, painting, and drawing, offer viewers an enigmatic and infinite journey through art. The exhibition, titled "Camera Ballet," is currently on display at the Frac Île-de-France - Le Plateau.
Denize's artistic approach creates stunning visual wanderings that reveal layer upon layer of intricate details. In her 2022 work "Tell Me If Its Not New," the iridescent patterns of a seashell, glued onto brown canvas, enhance the colors of a small still life sewn onto the same textile, which is adorned with colorful abstract bursts. Her three-dimensional details—including bones, ceramics, and golden scales—reveal other elements painted flat, such as twilight scenes and faces, creating an infinite exploration for viewers.
Born in 1986, Denize is a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris who has developed a unique artistic language that bridges painting, drawing, and sculpture. "Painting allowed me to move from my small drawing notebook to large formats," she explains. "The more I master this pictorial scale, the more I develop my taste for staging." Her background includes painting sets for cinema, and she occasionally wears her textile works and performs with them in public, bringing a theatrical dimension to her art.
The artist has conceived her new exhibition "Camera Ballet" as "a long tracking shot crossed by mysterious characters." This cinematic approach reflects her interest in narrative ambiguity and visual storytelling. In one of her new canvases, an arm hangs limply on the surface—is it a corpse or simply a sleeve to be put on? This deliberate ambiguity is central to Denize's artistic philosophy.
"For me, ambiguity rhymes with freedom," Denize states. "Not categorizing helps me to desacralize everything and remain as enigmatic as possible." This approach allows viewers to engage with her work on multiple levels, discovering new meanings and interpretations with each viewing. Her layered compositions invite prolonged contemplation, revealing different stories and emotions depending on the viewer's perspective and mood.
The exhibition "Camera Ballet" runs from September 25 through January 11 at the Frac Île-de-France - Le Plateau, offering visitors an extended opportunity to experience Denize's unique artistic vision that challenges conventional boundaries between different artistic mediums.
