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James Rosenquist, exhibition view, Les Abattoirs, Toulouse, 2005
© Printemps de septembre, photo André Morin
Born in 1933 in Grand Forks (USA), he lives in Spring Hill (USA).
Well known for the contribution of his paintings, with their vertiginous dimensions, made to Pop Art, James Rosenquist has always been fascinated by space and technological progress. These go hand in hand with his preoccupation with the planet's social, political, economic and environmental future.
Eau de Robot (1984) being shown at les Abattoirs – Musée Frac Occitanie Toulouse, presents us with a strange cosmic ballet. Five elements float in sidereal space: gears, a picture of the facades of skyscrapers, a plug-hole, glowing red wires tied to some sort of valve, and a geometric representation of the funnel of a vortex. This multi-layered work translates the theory of relativity, the foundation of speculation about the nature of the cosmos and of the discovery of black holes, into the cinematic energy of the image. But through these motifs suction and engulfment, the artist also suggests the contingency and fragility of human activity in the face of the universe and its mysteries. Eau de Robot represents a key moment for Rosenquist and for painting, which at that point he propels into a subliminal vertigo.