The melodic sensibility of Mathilde Denize’s visual style is at the center of Sound of Figures at Perrotin in New York. Reused from film sets, her materials are born-again into an environment that is altogether new. Denize’s combination of painting, sculpture, and figure feels almost archaeological—we are transported to a retrospective that is not actually of the past.
Her use of color and form might match stereotypical notions of femininity, but her finished products are anything but. Denize’s paintings are akin to faces printed with makeup—picture a cheek coated in blush. There’s a corporeality to her two-dimensional work that makes it feel as though it’d be warm to the touch.
The entrancing and other-worldly nature of her work speaks to a certain feminine mystique contemporarily neglected in favor of a testosterone-centric mainstream. Using an impressive amalgamation of material and medium, Denize allows us to hear the song of a nuanced female experience without having to produce any noise.
Sound of Figures is on view through February 19 at Perrotin, 130 Orchard St. New York