Vera Molnar - Sainte-Victoire Interchangeables (Black & White)

In Vera Molnar’s work, the motif of the Montagne Saint-Victoire holds a singular place as exemplified by many of her drawings, works and editions. Of course we think of her tribute to Cezanne and his capacity to reveal the asymmetry of this rocky eruption through plastic means. But with Vera Molnar, the Montagne Saint-Victoire is also a principle, or more precisely, the natural fortunate embodiment of a disorder she keeps trying to rationalize. This rationalization especially takes up the form of the bell curve, a system of representation of the complexity that Vera Molnar uses, appropriates and updates. If the Montagne Sainte-Victoire is the natural embodiment of this curve, its full beauty had to be demonstrated. Such was the artist’s intention with this new set.

Nine panels, three states: one Montagne Sainte-Victoire in flat tints, another in lines, and the last one in dots, all three of them accounting for the general aspect of the mountain. The artist then gives activation instructions: the work owner (whether collector, institution etc.) agrees to frequently change the horizontal layout of the canvases. This simple instruction activates the possibility of 216 different compositions of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. This grand motif inspires Vera Molnar an exemplary work in which a famous landmark is used as a template to combine a rigorous protocol with playful variations.

The artist has imagined two different versions: one black and white, emphasizing the pragmatic rigor of the work, the second in color (orange and blue), in hues frequently used by the artist, to somehow compensate the radical minimalism of the first one. These two works are part of the artist’s constant research around a theme and its possible variations.