SOLEIL VERT

Soleil vert
2020
Oill on canvas
97 x 81 cm

Soleil Vert reveals itself as a testimony to the year 2020, a year marked by the global Covid-19 pandemic. This oil painting, a reinterpretation of a 19th-century work, features a portrait of an old lady seated in an Empire-style armchair. Her slightly raised eyebrows and sad eyes tell a story of fatigue, extending to all humanity. She is wearing a black dress with ruffles, perhaps a mourning dress. What immediately strikes the viewer, however, are the warning ribbons that encircle the figure. On these tapes, a piece of paper is taped with the inscription "NON ESSENTIEL" (non essential). Blase created this painting in 2020, a year in which the pandemic forced a categorization of activities, distinguishing between those that are essential and those that are not.

These ribbons with their white and red stripes, evoking the zones of social distancing imposed by the pandemic, enclose the old lady in a space where the boundary between the essential and the non-essential has become blurred. These same ribbons were used to bar access to cultural spaces in supermarkets, the only shops open. The artist also makes a subtle link with the elderly, who were particularly vulnerable during this period. Confined to their homes, they faced increased loneliness, a reality that was already marking their existence. 

The title of the work, borrowed from the film Soylent Green, set in 2022, suggests a dystopian and cynical vision. Blase captures the essence of that year, when the line between the essential and the non-essential has become blurred, loneliness has affected many lives, and the future remains uncertain. The artist commented on his networks at the time: "A lot of artists, as well as seeing their profession become non-essential, found themselves in a kind of self-censorship, and it's quite normal to find it obscene to express yourself when you're going through a crisis like that; it's like making a joke at a funeral, it requires a lot of aplomb".