Jean Miotte stands as a distinguished figure of lyrical abstraction within the New School of Paris. From the outset, he has favored gestures and action as a means to convey emotion, bearing witness to his complex relationship with sensitive reality. His discourse is rooted in a semantical understanding where he views the sign as the “I” who paints; as he declares, “I am painting.” Miotte’s approach exists at the intersection of two extremes: on one hand, a writing that reaches the pinnacle of thought and sensation, and on the other, a joint and exuberant spontaneity that immerses oneself in a Zen spirit. This calling to the void became more prominent in 1962 after regular visits to New York, where he formed bonds with Rothko and Motherwell. Miotte pays homage to white, which transforms into light and “radiates and erases limits,” according to him. The fluid space is bisected by vigorous flat areas, extending into hemmed waves that are torn apart in a spatial labyrinth, its complacent pitfalls suppressed.
His paintings display a return to polychromy, with a palette of pure tones, favoring the primaries that he exploits for their sounds. The use of brushes, spatulas, and knives allows for the effervescence of a cursive graphic design, with rich, vibrant, and sharp accents that create a dynamic universe governed by contradictory and dual forces. A dispersion emerged in the seventies and eighties, leading to a new cycle centered on metamorphosis. Between violence and refinement, density and transparency, fervor and revolt, Jean Miotte’s paintings achieve a quivering balance of life. The rhythmic arabesque of its forms echoes the dance that inspires it. The unity of his language is realized in this formless lyricism, reaching a pictorial plenitude by giving substance to his sensations of light and embodying an indefinable sacred energy of living.
Jean Miotte, who has exhibited in Paris alongside Joan Mitchell, Jean-Paul Riopelle, and Sam Francis, is a prominent figure in the world of art.
www.ftn-books.com has several publications on Miotte now available.
