julien chatelin : a breathtaking
April 18 - May 16, 2025 / 1433 W Chicago Avenue
All programs are free and open to the public
CLOSING RECEPTION
Thursday, May 15 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM
A Breathtaking holds a peculiar power in its unfinished nature. On one hand, it speaks to the majestic and sublime, suggesting visions of grandeur that take the breath away in awe and admiration. On the other, it hints at a sudden interruption, a gasp at realizing the meaning of fragility. The unfinished phrase becomes a lens into emotional landscapes that leave us suspended between beauty and the unknown.
Julien Chatelin’s exhibition reflects this very tension, offering a poetic exploration of the ephemeral, the delicate, and inevitable transformations. His images carve out spaces of openness and suspense, leaving room for infinite possibilities while subtly hinting at loss or silence.
The works on view delve into territories in transition, where contrasting forces collide. Topographies are charged with opposing energies, revealing a silent battle between cities and nature, humanity and its environment. These spaces carry a profound ambivalence, suggesting both fecundity and sterility, promise and emptiness. In this interplay, Chatelin explores the tension between stillness and movement, the visible and the invisible, the vast and the intimate, capturing the fractured realities of contemporary society.
Through the dual display of vernacular and the distress of fragmented societies, A Breathtaking offers a singular reading into capitalist development, inviting reflection on the complexities of growth and decay. Meaning, in this exhibition, is not made through completion but through the spaces in between, where contradictions find their voice.
Image locations : China, Egypt, Russia and Michigan. See pricelist here.
