Instant Ebloui 1979

Curator: My first impression? Energy. A controlled explosion, maybe. Editor: Well, you've stumbled upon something interesting. This piece, titled "Instant Ebloui", was created in 1979 by Jean Miotte, and he primarily worked with acrylic paint and matter-painting techniques. Curator: Matter-painting, meaning he manipulated the surface of the paint itself? You can see it; the layering, the texture, particularly around those bold black strokes. The materiality speaks to process, each application of acrylic deliberate yet also spontaneous, judging by how quickly and expressively each color meets the canvas. I wonder if he used scaffolding during its making, it gives me this impression, which ultimately brings a beautiful social element to how art is manufactured in studios, a physical collaboration. Editor: Precisely. And consider the art world climate of the late 70s. Abstract expressionism was in full swing, but being critiqued. Miotte entered a field shaped by movements and personalities—and he was shown widely. How were museums exhibiting abstraction? What conversations were galleries facilitating around these bold colors and forms? Curator: I keep getting drawn to the raw canvas peering through; it's as if Miotte intentionally left aspects unfinished, making visible the bones of the material reality. We often want to find meaning in colors, I guess the red there brings a sensation of anger but without the proper treatment of color, can such reading be completely genuine? The fact remains on how this was quickly applied, but again I see a strong material intentionality. It almost undermines any grand, intellectual narrative by shouting 'look at this process!’ Editor: And in doing so, does it become a comment on the commodification of artistic genius? Was this ‘instant’ art being consumed as quickly as it was produced, mirroring the fast-paced consumer culture taking hold? Were the gallerists complicit by promoting his material and performance as part of its artistic practice? Curator: Maybe. It makes me want to analyze his entire toolkit at the time. The brushes, the consistency of that paint... the ladder? Was there one? These considerations of manufacturing a painting have to come hand to hand, in my opinion. Editor: Interesting... "Instant Ebloui", a snapshot of both a technique and an era; not just how a work was created, but how its existence reflected, or even resisted, larger social trends of art consumption, manufacturing and distribution. Thank you. Curator: A good analysis!