The introduction is a bit abrupt.

Lines dashing in shades of grey across large off-white surfaces. Is he a genius? A Naive? A slacker? It’s intimidating. One gets the feeling the work may not be as simple as it looks. It took indeed Cy Twombly two summers in a row to complete the ten paintings that compose the Fifty Days at Iliam series.

cy-twombly

Writing comes into play, dysgraphic, almost embarrassing. Color explodes most of the time, trickles, even pukes. It feels out of control. Taking a closer look one can grasp the palimpsest, the complex layers. A letter is sticking out, the angy “A” from “Apollo”, the slimy “O” from “Autumno”. The man, who belongs to the american avant-garde has read the Antiques and lives in Italy. A line in the shape of a soft hiatus starts to materialize.

cy-twombly-triptyque
His paintings are lyrical ballads. His sculptures are gently archaic. His photographs are like haikus. Cy Twombly is, in a way, a guest in his own art; a form as powerful as it is fragile, vigorous and delicate all at a time. It’s infinitely compelling.

Visuals © Araso

Cy Twombly, an exhibition on view at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from 30.11.2016 to 24.04.2017