The French artist Henri Prosi (born 1936) completed his education in the l’École des Beaux-Arts and l’École des Arts Appliqués, both in Paris. His artistic style revolves around the simplicity and purity of geometric shapes, devoid of any narrative representation, psychological connotations or gesturing. His pieces are characterized by their strict symmetry and fragmentation, ultimately conveying a sense of centrifugal force.
Renowned French art historian Domitille d’Orgeval elaborates further on Prosi’s work: “At the beginning of his career in the mid-1960s, Henri Prosi gravitated towards geometry not because he saw it as a reflection of moral truth or absolute geometric order, but for its vivacity. In fact, he once said about his early geometric paintings, ‘There is a dynamic action, something happens. It seems to me that something comes alive. Like people who meet in the street, like life.’ This energy, derived from the dialectic of relationships, governs all of Prosi’s art. He explored its endless possibilities through his remarkable ability to continuously reinvent himself, studying the role of color (limited to primary colors, black, and white), rectangles, squares, verticals and horizontals, solids and voids, while emphasizing a specific aspect like the structure, surface, or outline of his work.”
Prosi’s debut exhibition was at the 4th Biennale de Paris in 1965, and his most recent showcase was the Code and Algorithm – Hommage á Vera Molnar at the Vasarely Museum in Budapest, Hungary in 2019. Throughout the years, his work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions (often alongside other renowned artists such as Charles Bézie and Jean-François Dubreuil) at prestigious galleries, museums, and prominent art fairs in France, Austria, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Italy. His pieces are also part of public collections, including the National Contemporary Art Fund .
www.ftn-books.com has the VIERDE DIMENSIE publication on Prosi now available.
