The Galerie de Buci presents a solo show of Dean Tavoularis, a legendary Hollywood art director who has designed the sets for many of the world's cinema masterpieces. Renowned for having worked with such great directors as Michelangelo Antonioni, Roman Polanski, William Friedkin, Warren Beatty, Arthur Penn, Philip Kaufman, Wim Wenders and above all Francis Ford Coppola, Dean Tavoularis is now unveiling his paintings. Playing on his mastery of film sets, he creates his own luminous, colorful pictorial universe.
At the age of 92, his awards include an Oscar for Best Set Design in 1975 for The Godfather II and a BAFTA Award in 1989 for Tucker: The Man and His Dream, not to mention countless other nominations and prizes. Based in Paris, he has never stopped creating, and today devotes himself to painting, collage and sculpture in his studio in the 17th arrondissement.
Dean Tavoularis has left his mark on the history of cinema with his bold sets, innovative universes and impeccable aesthetics, which he now transposes into his works of art.
In his 2011 article L'Allure des Formes, art critic and curator Dominique Païni wrote of Dean Tavoularis: "...for him, painting is not a continuation of his virtuosity in set design, the extension that would ennoble the decorator's efficiency. They are, in fact, the two opposite and united sides of the same enterprise, a founding opposition, as if this plastic temperament could only be realized by fighting: 'dramaturgy against abstraction, characters against objects, tragic collage against joyful caricature, painting against cinema. Against means... with ".
In his paintings, drawings and sculptures, Dean Tavoularis reveals some of his innermost thoughts and emotions, playing with light and darkness, order and chaos. His dynamic compositions pulsate with life, teeming with energy and movement, reflecting the complexities of existence. His works invite us to an eternal dance between reality and illusion, blurring the lines between the tangible and the imaginary. He explains it himself: "A wonderful thing happens in painting: I surrender myself into someone else's hands. I'm drawn to a childish sense of color that is in no way civilized. I'm drawn to the colors of contemporary machines and so much more”. The artist's talent transcends traditional boundaries, harmoniously merging the worlds of painting and film to offer a fresh perspective.
The Galerie de Buci is proud to present the works of Dean Tavoularis, many of which have never been shown before, throughout September 2024. More than 25 paintings, drawings, collages and sculptures are brought together for this exhibition at 73 rue de Seine in Paris.
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