In Venice, the SV exhibition space, located at Campo San Zaccaria in Castello 4693, is hosting a two-part exhibition dedicated to the work of François Reboul, a French artist who lives and works in Venice, presenting a new series of works created since 2020 and centered on a personal reinterpretation of Abstract Expressionism. The exhibition project is divided into two distinct yet complementary parts. The first exhibition, titled *Beyond Chaos*, is scheduled from May 1 to August 15, 2026, and the second, *From Chaos to Freedom*, will be on view from August 28 to November 22, 2026, with the opening scheduled for September 4 at 6:00 p.m. Both exhibitions are curated by Vittoria Brachi and take place in the same Venetian venue, creating a narrative continuity that guides the public over the course of several months.
Reboul’s work engages in a dialogue with the traditionof Abstract Expressionism and the so-called New York School, which the artist does not merely reference but uses as a framework for his personal exploration of painting. The pictorial language thus becomes a device through which to explore the possibilities of the gesture, understood not as mere execution but as a process of image construction.
The two exhibitions each feature a total of twenty paintings, organized according to a progression that encompasses both the dimensions of the works and the density of the paint. The surfaces, often marked and rough, make the physical presence of the manual intervention evident. The painting, in the words of curator Vittoria Brachi, does not conceal its process of creation but exposes it in its entirety. Every layer of color, every brushstroke, and every accumulation of material becomes a visible trace of the artist’s work on the canvas, ultimately generating three-dimensional elements that emerge or shimmer from the surface.
The formal structure of the works favors predominantly vertical formats, which reinforce a frontal perception and reduce any possible illusion of depth. There is no hierarchy between background and figure, nor is there a traditional perspectival construction. Everything unfolds on the surface, where color operates through intense contrasts and combinations that, despite their complete abstraction, evoke a memory of the Venetian painting tradition, from Tintoretto to Tiepolo.
Within this apparent formal coherence, however, elements of instability emerge. Reboul’s works oscillate between abstraction and figuration, allowing images to surface that seem to dissolve into the painterly gesture. Bodies—often female—appear and disappear within the chromatic material, without ever taking on a definitive form. These are not fully realized representations, but rather temporary apparitions that form and dissolve within the flow of the paint.
A distinctive feature of the artist’s work is the presence of a chiaroscuro tension that runs through many of her pieces. Dark lines—black or blue—traverse the surfaces and help define edges and potential depths, introducing a spatial dimension that does not entirely abandon three-dimensionality. Painting thus becomes a field of forces in unstable equilibrium, in which control and loss, construction and dissolution, structure and gesture coexist.
Within this dynamic, Reboul’s work sometimes approaches an almost surrealist dimension, in which images emerge as fragments not fully controlled by consciousness. The result is a form of painting that is not limited to representation but constitutes itself as a process of continuous emergence, in which the visible always appears in a state of formation.
For the artist, abstraction is not a formal exercise but an expressive necessity. Abstraction is described as a form of freedom, a way to interrupt the ordinary flow of thought and capture an immediate tension on the canvas. The works thus take the form of “visual situations” rather than definitive images, in which fields of color and lines generate movements and trajectories that come to life in the viewer’s gaze, drawing the viewer into a continuous process of recognition and loss.
Even in works where the reference to the figure becomes more evident, Reboul avoids any descriptive intent. Faces and anatomies remain in a state of trace, essential marks to which color confers emotional density. The painting thus seems to push itself to the very limit of image formation, positioning itself in an intermediate zone between appearance and dissolution.
François Reboul’s artistic journey is part of a life marked by a complex and multifaceted relationship with the world of art and culture. Born in France, he developed an interest in modern art at a young age, identifying Abstract Expressionism and the New York School as the primary influences on his work. A decisive moment came with his trip to the United States in 1960, which allowed him to engage directly with the American art scene. Upon returning to Europe, he embarked on a career as an oncologist, working between Europe and the United States, while maintaining a constant connection to the cultural scene. At the same time, he developed a photographic practice fueled by travels in Asia and South America, which helped broaden his visual and conceptual perspective.
It was only during the first lockdown that Reboul returned to painting, choosing to devote himself entirely to what he defines as his original calling. From that moment on, he began a daily practice that gave rise to a coherent body of work, all oriented toward a personal reinterpretation of Abstract Expressionism and its contemporary possibilities.
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| Two Exhibitions in Venice for François Reboul: From Abstraction to the Movement for Pictorial Freedom |
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