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Structure du silence C

Aurélie Nemours

Date : 1983

Support : Painting

Size : 100 x 100 cm

© ADAGP.

Before beginning, Aurélie Nemours takes measurements, and makes sketches and drawings. Only then does she begin to produce the work, in black and white or in colour. Colour for Nemours is "pure energy". She works in series. These include : the Demeurs, pastels (1953-1959); then oil paint on canvas as in Les Pierres Angulaires (1956-1960), Au Commencement (1959-1962), Le Rythme du Millimètre, for which she begins with nature to create a grid (1972-1980), Les Structures du Silence in square format and the relationship between geometric shapes painted in black and white (1983-1990) and finally, from 1992, N+H (Nombre et Hasard, or Number and Fate) in which random combinations disturb calculations.

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After many years studying with Fernand Léger and other well-known artists, Aurélie Nemours turned to abstract art.
The work is composed of basic shapes defined in infinite variations. The shapes include the cross, the right angle and square. The square is also repeated in the painting’s 100cm x 100cm format.

The "Structure of Silence" is also an ambiguous work based on the laws of contrast and of opposites.
Firstly, only two colours have been used. The variation between the two extremes of black and white: the black absorbs the entire spectrum of colours, while the white reflects them.
Secondly, the overlapping of the geometric shapes creates a solid whole, whose black depth absorbs the viewer.

It is tempting to reduce Aurélie Nemours’ painting to a cold and austere piece of work. However, the painting in fact shows great sensuality. This is particularly visible on the canvas where a subtle play of light takes place on the material.

Taking a closer look, you can make out the marks of the paintbrush, the artist leaving her mark on the painting. This meticulous work on the material is described by the artist as “Every centimetre square of oil paint being crossed four times in each of the four directions”.

The viewer’s eye loses itself among the delicate reflections, allowing time to meditate the structure of silence.