Adel Abdessemed : Pasolini in Chiaroscuro

 

Pasolini is perhaps the last European intellectual to have gained worldwide renown. A half-century on from his death, his influence can still be felt across the different fields in which he worked: he is read, commented on, adapted, and inspires contemporary creative artists. While he preferred to describe himself as a writer, it was his films that brought him to the public’s attention. Cinema, which acted as the perfect sounding board for his political ideas, occupies a central place in his oeuvre. And it is this aspect of his work, seen through the prism of the influence of classical and contemporary art on the aesthetic of his cinematographic work, that is the main focus of “Pasolini in chiaroscuro”. Clips from Accattone, Théorème, Salò, and others are juxtaposed alongside paintings by Pontormo, Pieter Claesz, Giorgio Morandi, Fernand Léger, and Francis Bacon. 

 

Having first explored the way in which Pasolini drew on the work of painters from the past to compose his film sequences, the second part of the exhibition shows how the writer-director symmetrically inspired those who came after him. It brings together around thirty international artists who paid tribute to him, many of them having worked on his films.

 

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