Published on the occasion of Patrick Neu’s solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, 24.06 2015 – 13.09 2015
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With each piece, Patrick Neu turns traditional technique on its head and embarks on new experiments, which he extends for as long as required. The artist works with materials not often found in the art world: bees’ wings, lampblack on glass, crystal, wax, blocks of Chinese ink, butterfly wings, sloughed snakeskin, eggshells, charred paper, etc. For 30 years, Patrick Neu has been developing his art discreetly. The works selected for his exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo are a nod towards this perilous dialogue with the materials and the memory of the world. Daring decisions, the adventure of thought, an insistence on duration and a dialogue with history are all ingredients in the artist’s researches into memory and forgetting processes, the macabre blooming of flowers and the endurance of ancient images.

Book contents
– “Paying close attention to things”: Patrick Neu in conversation with Jean de Loisy
– “Even as the petals fade and fall to the ground, the scent hovers there in the memory”: an essay by Katell Jaffrès, curator of Patrick Neu’s exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo
– Notes on a selection of the artist’s works.

About the authors
– Katell Jaffrès is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo.