Infused with medieval futurism, MP BENOIT BASSET's latest work marks a departure from the inward-looking and reflective quality of her earlier paintings, marked by a symbolist emphasis on inner meaning. For Secrets & Intrigues, the artist has created a negative of her previous work, leading the viewer into a profane realm of artifice and conspiracy.

Jewellery and ornaments grace pale, soft skins. Fabric and embroidery drape sensual, carnal, or deformed bodies. Opulence, luxury and eroticism permeate these canvases, forming a supernatural procession of enigmatic characters. The sumptuous garments carry a skewed echo of the Renaissance while the bodies of the protagonists, at times provokingly or enticingly bare, hover over muted backgrounds that negate any historical or geographical reference. Enigmatic and poise, they radiate ambiguous elegance. The crossed gazes, plots and counter-plots and the accusing stares weave a dense web of conspiracy.

The sense of hushed, opaque mystery evokes the royal courts of the past seen through the very modern eyes of the artist. The baroque extravagance of Secrets & Intrigues is at once flamboyant and strangely unsettling.

Charlotte Benoit - spokeswoman
ch.benoit@neuf.fr