A Varnish on Nothingness

We are pleased to announce the second exhibition of Jean-François Bory at Garage Cosmos, titled "A Varnish on Nothingness." Bory is renowned as a French essayist, art critic, and poet, an ambiguous heir to the artistic movements of the 1920s, such as Apollinaire, Tzara, but also Cendrars, precisely the Cendrars of the "Prose of the Trans-Siberian" targeted in a new version of "Abracadada," a poem originally conceived in 1977, printed on a large 30-meter roll displayed in the exhibition.

The exhibition takes its name from a novel by Bory published in 2023. Bory describes it as "a festival of visual poems, where a play with 26 characters is performed in the dark, where the indiscipline of words is rewarded with golden sheets." Bory draws from the words of the pre-Socratic philosopher Gorgias (of Leontinoi), often mentioned in Plato's dialogues: "Before reaching the realm of silence, every word will be an ornament of darkness." Careful examination is required for the skillfully crafted papers, a selection of which is displayed in showcases. Here, one can witness Bory living up to his reputation as both an art critic, concrete poet, and essayist. It is a joyful way to conclude the cycle of avant-gardes and revisit his past work through so many self-references. Rarely do so many talents come together under the signature of a single author. And thus, an extent that most of his visual poetry colleagues, unfortunately, often lack.