From a white void, young figures emerge, painted in Italian Renaissance style. Around them, no floor, no sky, no reality; only a few lines suggesting some drapery, but hanging above the subjects presides a large and metallic tribal sign, a glyph for a sun. Lost in a virtual realm, a realm of possibilities, the subjects are posing in a melancholic fashion. In this new collection, Jean-Louis Sabot portrays his generation, his community, his friends.

This sign embodies the spirit of unity, of a group, as it is the most primitive form
of acceptance.

The tribal sign is central to Sabot. It embodies the meaning and the possibility of a community. His interest lies in the feeling of belonging to a group, physical or imaginary. When reality disappears, the idea of the community remains.

By representing three of his friends united in a laying scene, a calm moment without any actions involved, it's tempting to see a portrait of the artist himself in this series.

Playing on a striking contrast between the hyperrealism of the figures and the emptiness and digital feel of what lies behind and beyond them, Sabot subverts the photo montage aesthetic.

The composition is thought of as a Photoshop document in which layers overlay is left visible, implicit, evoked.

It allows me to isolate the subjects and accentuate the idea that they are mobile, just as in a collage...

Secondly, I am interested in the volatility of the image. Nowadays, an image can exist in a number of different forms and supports. It can be printed, scanned, copied, sent, transferred, compressed, and re-sent. The image is no longer fixed, except in paint. I am interested in the dialogue between the durability of painting and the ephemeral quality of an image.