Thomas Merret

Thomas Merret lives and works in Paris (FR)

World representation and its reproduction is the foundation for Thomas Merret’s work; his approach is influenced by Walter Benjamin, Robert Filliou, Jean Luc Moulène and Jason Dodge. Photography is the primary source for his work. It specially questions photographic issues, and his research gradually takes form around them. However, he uses multiple mediums to address questions of printing, color and perception. His pieces are involved in long-term commitments of many years. They are strongly rooted in Art history and technology but he works through various forms of representation. The shape of the work is simple and in need of a system:
he invents an action that allows distance and control because what is important to him is what happens after the system is applied. The driving force of the work seems to be this persistent research of what currently exists “during the work” and “after the work”. His series of photographs of the seas and a complete archive of maritime limits is a perfect illustration of a work in progress and a “project of a lifetime.” It manifests the intense relationship of a gesture with an artwork by showing an imperceptible border and depicting only an unchanged horizon. The immense task undertaken by the artist gives additional value to each of the photographs.
Merret also photographed art reproductions from la collection du frère Clavel (2013), where he chose paintings that existed in different editions to show the difference in printing, and how an image can exist as an original and its reproductions simultaneously. The anthological signs of each piece brings us to strongly question the uniqueness of the work. The artist strongly comes back to a principle of reality. The shades of color and dye, set up by copying and printing, just reassure the vulnerability of reality. So, this reflexive and temporal dimension of Merret’s work has always intended to put the viewer in the center of the work. It should also be said that his physical movements in the world power all of his theoretical research.

Thomas Merret graduated from the École Supérieure d’art in Clermont Métropole and from the e | m | a fructidor in Chalon sur Saône . His work was shown at the last Salon de la Jeune Creation, Paris, and many group exhibitions including the IrmavepClub collective. He also recently participated in residency at Les Ateliers des Arques curated by Olivier Michelon. He is currently in residence at Triangle France, where he is working on new images of maritime limits, and new work on perception through a series of paintings.