Ceci n’est pas un dessin, c’est une situation

At the heart of the artist’s work is the practice of drawing, simple and universal. If his gesture is so recognizable, his art does not lie so much in the illustration but sooner and mainly in the philosophy that accompanies the different situations described in his drawings. Direct and honest, his works humorously and critically broach a wide range of topics from conceptual art to skateboarding. 

Jarvis, who sometimes describes himself as a visual philosopher, is interested in both the performative, physical nature of drawing and also the philosophical idea of drawing as a tool for understanding the world, an instinctive process directly linked to thinking. Thus, reflections, tangible or metaphysical, often tautological, about scenes from everyday life are added to the visual impact. 

Referring to The Treachery of Images, the title of the exhibition chosen by the artist invites us to consider the drawing as an object in itself, and how in embracing this reductive approach to drawing it becomes a kind of ’situation’ that reminds us of the artifice at the heart of culture.

« A drawing is made by a series of gestures.
Drawing on paper is a recording of those gestures.
Free the line from the paper and the line becomes an object. »

James Jarvis