La Pesanteur et la Grâce

La Pesanteur et La Grâce (Gravity and Grace: Abstractions and Spirituality) serves as the exhibition catalogue to the French Academy in Rome - Villa Medici exhibition of the same title.

The catalogue has been published in two editions one in French and the other in Italian, with the critical texts by Éric de Chassey, Gianni Vattimo, Fanny Drugeon, Philippe Sers, and Emmanuel van der Meulen. La Pesanteur et La Grâce represents the works of five international artists, Emanuele Becheri, Callum Innes, Georges Tony Stoll, Emmanuel Van Der Meulen, and Marthe Wery, and focuses on the theme of spirituality and abstraction.

Éric de Chassey, the director of the French Academy in Rome - Villa Medici, writes, "One of the most convincing schools of thought regarding the birth of abstract art is that which results in spiritual reflection and is satisfied in confrontation with the limits of figurative representation in the moment when one would demonstrate the transient nature of the human experience."

The artists have chosen abstraction as a non-representational working model to depict the theme of the exhibition. The outcome reflects a situation in which the artists set aside their skills and allows the artistic medium to direct itself toward the ultimate representation of the show's concept. The viewer, upon seeing these images, is able to perceive a specific experience and recognize its meaning within his or her personal sphere of cognitive reasoning. What remains of the physical presence of the works are the artists' contemplations on the world, which are left open to an unfettered interpretation by the viewer. The catalogue represents a tangible opportunity with which the reader can reflect and internalize the representations of forces unseen: Gravity and Grace.