“Trois Rivieres,” an exhibition by Alexandre Lenoir at Almine Rech, New York

Lenoir’s first solo show in the US transforms old black and white and sepia-toned photographs that belong to his grandmother into large-scale acrylic and oil paintings through a technique akin to printmaking. The technique allows Lenoir to creates an illusion of depth in his work without relying on texture. However despite the incredible meticulousness of his works the artist still allows chance and experimentation to inform his paintings. Like the distant memories they represent, Lenoir’s canvases are marked by holes and stains, this only underscores the imperfect and sometimes brutal activity of remembering. The afterimage, itself a kind of memory,  a fleeting impression on the retina that lets us to see something that isn’t actually there. Lenoir, having looked at the figures in the photos with great intensity, captures their phantom afterimages in paint.

On view until October 23rd at Almine Rech

39 East 78th Street, 2nd Floor, New York

Photos by Paige Silveria