VILLENEUVE-LEZ-AVIGNON “Black garden”, new exhibition at the Saint-André abbey – Objectif Gard

From this Wednesday September 9th until November 1st, the Saint-André abbey is hosting a new exhibition entitled “Black garden”, which will close its season. Visitors will be able to discover the prints by Judith Rothchild and the artist’s books from Verdigris editions by Mark Lintott.

Judith Rothchild is American, Mark Lintott is English. Both have lived for forty years in the South of France, on the shores of Lake Salagou. To create her prints, Judith uses an intaglio technique dating from the 17th century: the mezzotint. Using his cradle, the artist marks his copper plate with small lines. Like pixels. And by a show of hands. Hours and hours. Then she smooths the plate until it gets velvet. Thus, this direct cut offers endless shades of gray all the way to white, taking the subject out of black and offering an incredible amount of detail.

A slow job that Judith Rothchild has managed to tame over the years of practice. And the work doesn’t stop there since Mark Lintott, his companion, patiently prints them on an old press in art books. So these half-tintos find themselves in a dialogue with texts always chosen by the couple. Never order. They walk with emotion. We find for example the pen of Charles Baudelaire, Pablo Neruda or Paul Valéry.

“The text inspires the format”

“The text inspires the format. […] Every book is always a challenge“, comments Mark Lintott, who conceives the book as an art object. Sometimes in accordion or following a casing game. Nothing is forbidden. The content and the container dialogue to converge on a single meaning. Like the text. “Snake” adorned with snake moults stamped on a long-length work reminiscent of the crawling body of the reptile.

What makes these books works is also their rarity. 50 copies maximum. Behind the Verdigris editions, there is also the reflection of the love of a job well done. The score of the lead lettering line by line, the engravings of Judith carefully added … We find works in many prestigious places including the British Museum, the BNF, the Library of Congress in the United States and also, closer , in Nîmes or Avignon.

At the beginning of the exhibition, visitors will be able to discover the series of “forbidden fruits” accompanying the texts of Marie Rouanet. Like a disassembled book. But also the “terribly alive still lifes“arranged like a cabinet of curiosities where more or less common fruits and vegetables jostle.

The Abbey gardens brought to light in large format

In the large room, place for the first loves of Judith Rothchild: pastel. She was inspired by the majestic trees and the lush greenery of Italian gardens to create large formats in pencil. A series that combines perfectly with other works of the same dimensions representing the gardens of the Abbey of Saint-André where she had stayed in artistic residence a few months ago. “I believe my black and white are the color“, she concludes. In only shades of gray, she explores the whole palette and transcribes the softness of the shade of the branches and the vivacity of the Mediterranean sunlight.

If you want to meet these two artists, meet on September 19 and 20 during the European Heritage Days. On October 17, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., you can also participate in a demonstration with them of the black engraving technique, and enjoy the meeting in the afternoon.

Marie Meunier

Saint-André Abbey, rue Montée du fort in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon. Open until November 1, 2020. Prices for visit of the gardens and temporary exhibition: € 7, reduced: € 6, disabled: € 5. More info on www.abbayesaintandre.fr or on 04 90 25 55 95.

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