Galerie Nathalie Obadia is very pleased to present 7 jours 7 nuits, Sarkis's seventh exhibition, after Au commencement la chaleur in 2021. Embracing an innovative format, 7 jours 7 nuits will take place for exactly one week: it will open at 11AM on Wednesday, January 5, and will close on Wednesday, January 12, at precisely 11AM. For seven days, the gallery will be open to the public during its normal business hours - from 11AM to 7PM - but the exhibition will continue during closing hours. The works will be visible from the outside, through the windows, with lighting envisioned by the artist himself.
7 jours 7 nuits will present, for the first time ever, the installation 7 nuits, which Sarkis considers as one of the most important works of his career. Realized between 2016 and 2019, it takes the shape of 7 distinct compositions, with each interpretation comprising three elements that vary from one grouping to another. Each is rounded out by a photographic print on fabric (140 x 210 cm - 55 1/8 x 82 in.), showing a sleeping bag in front of La grande vitrine (1982-2021), an installation in progress situated at the heart of the artist's studio. On the ground, next to the sleeping bag, a small oil painting on canvas (18 x 24 cm - 6 3/32 x 9 1/4 in.) and a photograph on paper in the same format are the finishing touches of the photographic mise-en-scène. The latter is slightly different from one shot to the next, as evidenced by the modified assemblages and the changing luminosity of the studio.
The small painted canvas and the photograph on paper act as wall labels in the exhibition, inviting us to appreciate the sheer spatiality and power of the large photograph on fabric. The small photographs refer to the pictures taken by Sarkis, in which memories of interior details, objects and curiosities linked to precise locations cohabitate. The oils on canvas emanate from these photographs.
The exhibition 7 jours 7 nuits expresses the sensitivity with which the artist, in his work, summons the reality of a nomadic society and of our existences - evocations that intersect in our imagination.
