JEAN-BERNARD MÉTAIS : « vivre » ABBAYE DE SILVACANE

Jean Bernard Métais is a wine magician and a highly spiritual artist. He is an atypical, out-of-school character. For over 40 years, he has been developing a tenacious, minimalist and sensual body of work.
In all his work, Métais explores and materialises the passing of time. An insatiable traveller, this man for whom the world is his garden is tirelessly interested in the places and people he encounters. The ageing of things and the changing world are scrutinised on a daily basis by this stubborn artist.
Among his many works are his strange photographs of the bottoms of the vats of the wines he has been making for over 40 years. Each year, with the same rigorous framing, he captures this lively vinous nature as it unfolds its irremediable programme. Without warning, each shot is a world in itself, a moment in the secret, mysterious life that is the alchemy of the wine in gestation. In the sumptuous Cistercian mineral setting of Silvacane, Metais’ photos fascinate us, showing us a strange scene, each shot seemingly inhabited by an autonomous life. These vat bottoms look at us through their magnetic and multicoloured cellular irises like living beings.
Cyril Putman

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Vivre

14th July — 24th August 2018

Silvacane Abbey
13640 La Roque-d’Anthéron