Zaven Paré at Klotzshows

09/08/2024

PLEXIGLASS SUPERSTAR SCULPTURES AND ASSEMBLAGES BY ZAVEN PARÉ Since it first appeared in the 1960s, plexiglass has not only revolutionised industrial production, but also inspired many artists. A retrospective at MoMA in 2021/22 brought together a large number of them, such as Arman, Fontana, Lichtenstein, Oldenburg, Riley and Soto, all of whom used this material as a support for their works, often in the form of multiples. For his second solo exhibition in Brussels, Zaven Paré has decided to put the focus on plexiglass works. In four decades, this artist has gone from pioneer in the use of new media to archaeologist of their underlying technology. His artistic creations address the notion of device in a backward reflection, towards the possible origins of the latest high-tech buzz. His assemblages delight us, diving into optics, mechanics, and analogue electronics before the emergence of technological arts with their augmented, virtual, mixed or extended reality, connected objects or online art, already getting supplanted by AI. Deliberately going against these recent trends, Paré experiments with found objects while having fun, reinventing our world at every turn. He works without recipes and retains a great deal of spontaneity, which for him is an exciting exercise in persistence. Without tiring the viewer, he presents several series of playful compositions.