Ultimus Spectaculi

Paris
29 June - 13 July

Soufiane Ababri, Pierre Ardouvin, Carlotta Bailly-Borg, Pauline Bazignan, Matthew Brandt, Micky Clément, Sepand Danesh, Sam Durant, Thomas Fougeirol, Julia Haumont, Dan Levenson, Maude Maris, John Miller, Diogo Pimentão, Golnaz Payani, Mattea Perrotta, Brett Cody Rogers, Amanda Ross-Ho, Analia Saban, Jim Shaw, Sergio Verastegui, Marnie Weber

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René-Julien Praz & Bruno Delavallade © Rebecca Fanuele

Praz-Delavallade Paris invites you to Ultimus Spectaculi the last exhibition at the gallery, on view from 29 June to 13 July 2024, before its permanent closing.

As we began our preparations for Ultimus Spectaculi, a show that marks the end of more than 30 years in business for Praz-Delavallade Paris and Los Angeles, one thought was going through our minds: "If you shut the door to all errors, truth will be shut out"*.

We are very happy to be putting on this exhibition that allows us to pay tribute to the artists who have accompanied us over the years. Ultimus Spectaculi bears witness to the people we have met, our joys, our inner fractures and our capacity to reinvent the reality of everyday life. Whether they are happy or tragic, ruptures make up the very pattern of our existence and transform us. The ultimate outcome is when we manage to survive a rupture by calling upon our flexibility and ability to adapt, hoping that joy will be waiting at the end of the journey².

But what exactly is a rupture? The term is very different to the idea of "separation" that implies that each part, each individual returns to what it was before. Rupture is the wrenching apart of intertwined identities, a physical and psychological tear. Nobody comes out unscathed. We take these positive or negative experiences on board; they leave their mark on our flesh and continue to influence both our way of thinking and being.

In these conditions, is it even possible to move on to something new? Breaking apart implies a flexibility that allows us to survive the deformation our our beings that results from this trauma. However, a rupture does not force us to remain passive. We are not doomed to endure. We can make choices, adapt and learn something about ourselves in the process. Rabindranàth Tagore was pertinent, let's close our doors to mistakes and keep only the best, because leaving doesn't have to be heartbreaking, a rupture is not necessarily heart-rending, it can also be joyous and expected. There are two sides to every coin, one corresponds to collapse and the other to purification and a new start.

And this is what our very last exhibition points to as we invite our artists to take part in one final, generous collaboration. Flexibility, adaptation and innovation are the keywords as we look at what awaits each of them. It is up to all of us to learn from this new paradigm and understand that all natural forces conceal or entail unsuspected qualities. Art - the reason that has brought us together since Praz-Delavallade was founded - is more than ever in these troubled times, to quote André Malraux, "the shortest path from one man to another" **. The ultimate outcome is synonymous with resilience and marks a big step towards eternity.


René-Julien Praz



*Rabindranàth Tagore (1861- 941) was a poet, writer, playwright and philosopher. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913
** André Malraux (1901-1976) adventurer, resistant, novelist and politician.