'The equation is seemingly simple, a guest + a host = a ghost; one of those clever jeux d’esprit, which Duchamp enjoyed so much. Here, however, the equation has been stripped of its attributes, thereby reducing it to an enumeration of ‘a’, all treated equally without uppercase letters. Things do not add up, instead, they are presented side by side to broaden the scope of interpretation.

a guest

Julien Saudubray invited Ana Mazzei to collaborate on a piece that, not unlike Duchampian mathematics, is deceptively simple. Voids provide a structure for the whole, shapes extracted from drawings become tangible spaces and deep colors trick the eye into questioning what appears at first sight. A network is established between the elements of various assemblages, which are personified and given the values of a signifier.

a host

Behind their apparent geometric rigor, these painted and sanded wood assemblages are like small talismans, delicate emblems with obscure significations.

Far from conflicting with the formal rigor of the sticks carefully arranged in space, these signs enter into dialogue with them as if to complete them and fill a void.

A large yellow rocking eye faces a horde of hieratic ghosts.

a ghost

The transient heat left by a hand on a subway pole, the indiscernible void between two wooden rods leaning on one another to remain balanced, or again, a clumsy line that sets two plywood figures in a state of resistance and friction.

The exhibition a guest a host a ghost brings together two artists, Julien Saudubray (1985, France) and Ana Mazzei (1979, Brasil).'

Exhibition text by Julien Saudubray, November 2022