At Le Thoronet Abbey, the abstract divine was born

Accustomed to photographing mythical places such as the villa Malaparte, in Capri, the villa E-1027 of Eileen Grey, in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, or the workshops of Cy Twombly, Louise Bourgeois and Giorgio Morandi, François Halard confronts this summer to another architectural monster by exhibiting at Le Thoronet, this Cistercian abbey built between the 12th^e and XIII^e centuries in the hinterland of Provence. The purity of the lines, the evidence of the volumes and the harmony of the proportions of this Romanesque architectural ensemble have inspired architects such as Le Corbusier, Fernand Pouillon or more recently John Pawson.

“How could I find my place in such a beautiful empty place? What continuity did I want to bring after the visits of these figures? What answer to propose to preserve the quintessence of this place? », wondered François Halard, who then chose the path of contemplation. “I had the idea of ​​inscribing the divine in abstraction. »

wax casting

In the monks’ dormitory, the artist placed 40 photos of ancient deities on the ground, like recumbent figures: “I didn’t want to hang them vertically, so impressed was I to measure myself against this space. I didn’t want to lose the beauty of the place and wanted to preserve its expressiveness. » In the chapter house, he hung on the walls photos of fragments of buildings by the Mexican architect Luis Barrágan, a devout Catholic, as well as three images of Greek churches and one of the studio of Louise Bourgeois.

His third series is made up of ten large shots of cosmetologists – men responsible for ensuring discipline among the ephebes in ancient Greece –, aligned like Greek columns along the gallery of the priory. The photos, on which the artist poured wax “to give the impression that time has done its work”, were taken to the museum of Athens.

For this exhibition, François Halard opted for the Polaroid, enlarged, printed on paper and mounted on a metal plate, a format that has recently become his favorite medium: his “aspect is less documentary than the classic format and I will therefore continue with it”, slips the 62-year-old photographer. His sensitivity and his very human eye offer here a perfect counterpoint to this monumental and stripped stone building.