AVIGNON.- Buoyed up by the new momentum of 2017 with the winter exhibitions dedicated to Robert Combas and the art school graduates in the south of France – and further attested by the summer programme with four major exhibitions: the agnès b., Anselm Kiefer, Keith Haring and Leila Alaoui Collection – the Collection Lambert continues to mix popular and niche works in a programme which confirms the institute’s prominent place in the local, national and international arts and culture scene.

Starting in December, the Lambert Collection offers a unique exhibition built in the form of a sensitive dialogue between the works of Djamel Tatah and those of the minimalist artists of the Lambert Collection.

After studying at the School of Fine Arts in Saint-Etienne, Djamel Tatah took up painting and, since the late 1980s, has opted for large-format polyptychs with monochrome background featuring real-size human figures who share the museum space with the spectator in a poetic and unusual way.

In keeping with the tradition of classical painting and modernist and contemporary monochromes, his works are being presented at the Lambert Collection such that they interact with the minimalist works of Robert Ryman, Brice Marden, Robert Mangold, Robert Barry and Richard Serra and those of classical artists like the paintings of Corneille de Lyon in the 16th century and a selection of 50 works from the famous drawing firm of the School of Fine Arts in Paris.

Living and working for some years near Avignon, the artist proposes alongside the exhibition a series of meetings and workshops in his studio with the museum and the Collection Lambert’s educational service.

A richly illustrated catalogue has been published by Actes Sud with the support of Ben Brown Fine Arts. He brings together the texts of Danièle Cohn, Eric of Chassey and Eric Mézil.

"I try to make my painting experience a shared experience, one vision that meets another. Maybe this is the beauty of art: to succeed in doing something which is accessible to someone else." ---Djamel Tatah