In richly layered paintings, New York–based French artist Guillaume Bresson uses classical techniques to elevate contemporary subjects and imaginary landscapes—carnivals, breaker waves, and woodland scenes—to profound statements.

In collaboration with Galerie Nathalie Obadia, FIAF presents Momentum, Bresson’s first solo show in the US. The show will feature recent paintings that address current divisions in a globalized world—class struggles, migrations, and gender inequalities—echoing the writings of socially conscious French novelist Édouard Louis. Drawing upon influences going from Caravaggio to Jeff Wall, Bresson inserts modern-day figures into timeless grisailles, eschewing anachronism to merge past and present.

Curated by Courtney Geraghty, FIAF Artistic Director.

• Guillaume Bresson
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    Born in Toulouse in 1982, Guillaume Bresson lives and works in New York. His work questions the notions of staging and narrative in painting. He first came to the attention of the public with Dynasty, an exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo and Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 2010, the same year he won the Prix Sciences-Po pour l’Art Contemporain. Bresson’s work has since been shown internationally at institutions including the Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe (Germany, 2011), The Curitiba Biennial (Brazil, 2011), the Perm Museum (Russia, 2012), l’Institut du Monde arabe (Paris, 2015), la Collection Lambert (Avignon, 2015), ArtSpace Boan (Seoul, 2016), and the Fondation d’entreprise Ricard (France, 2018). In 2015, Bresson was commissioned by the director of the Avignon Festival, Olivier Py, to create the poster for the prestigious theater festival and stage a solo exhibition in Avignon’s renowned Eglise des Célestins. The same year, the board of patrons of Les Nouveaux Commanditaires engaged Bresson to create a polyptych for the RedStar soccer team, which became the emblem of the club and has been shown in group shows including La Grande Galerie du Foot (Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, 2016), Le Sport est un Art (Centre d’art contemporain, Meymac, France, 2017), and Par Amour du jeu (Magasins Généraux, Pantin, France, 2018). Bresson has been the subject of two monographic publications: Guillaume Bresson (Editions Dilecta, 2012) and Guillaume Bresson, Red Star Football Club (Presses du Réel, 2016). His works are in the collections of the MUDAM Luxembourg, Abattoirs Museum (Toulouse, France), among many others. Along with Tim Eitel and Hernan Bass, Guillaume Bresson will take part in a 2019 exhibition on figurative painting, Les Enfants du Paradis, at MUBA Museum in Tourcoing, France, which is organized in conjunction with the Lille3000 presentation L’Eldorado, curated by Jean-Max Colard and Jérôme Sans. Bresson graduated from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris with distinction in 2007. He has been represented by the Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris/Bruxelles) since 2010.