Abstracts
Abstract
Olivier Christinat's spare mises en scène form the canvas for portraits or nudes of young women in a sort of intimate encounter between artist and model that seems to overstep the bounds of modesty — not so much the bounds of the nudity of the body but, sometimes, those of a face, displayed in its most minute details, a bit compromising. Although Biblical references abound in his approach, they nevertheless remain under the seal of an aesthetic of "Antiquity." Distancing himself from a concern with simply providing pleasure, Christinat neutralizes eroticism through his ascetic gaze and his obsession with spareness.