Coalface | Julian CHARRIÈRE (2024) | PERROTIN

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Julian
CHARRIÈRE

Coalface, 2024

Anthracite coal

134 x 105 x 12 cm | 52 3/4 x 41 5/16 x 4 3/4 inch

Unique

Courtesy Perrotin

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photograph : CLAIRE DORN

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In the sculpture, an asteroidal boulder of anthracite coal is split in half and carved to include concave and convexshapes. This uneven surface gives the artwork a wavy effect, reminiscent of a fun house distortion mirror, curv-ing vision in strange ways. This dark glistening objectis then suspended on the wall and held in momentary equilibrium, which, impenetrableyet reflective, appears both unearthly and uncanny. Whereas coal is typically used as a tool by humankind to power our industries, heat our homes and propel the economy, it is here rendered a tool solely for reflection. On one hand playful and on the other ominous, the warped images which appear are indicative of an emotional disconnect between human beings, where we struggle to recognize ourselves in a material which though deeply prevalent across our planet, we rarely interact with up close. Confronted by our own likeness imposed on the coal, we are asked to question our own complicity in its continued prevalence. While at the same time, the glassy surface is reminiscent of obsidian, also known as volcanic glass, as well as the recognizable black screens of our smartphone technologies, both which culturally – mythically and technologically – allow us to gaze into other realms, places and times. Coalface foregrounds coal as a vehicle for both accelerationism and entrapment, the economic power of which is almost magnetic and can seemingly twist our view of the world, while also showing how humankind in our pursuit of such fossils contort the planetary timeline, unearthing buried strata of coal, petroleum oil and natural gas, ransacking the past to fuel the present. An act which if left unhindered might burn the future before we even arrive in it.

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