Transatlantic: Figurations of the 80s

Opera Gallery is pleased to present 'Transatlantic: Figurations of the 80s', a group exhibition curated by Pascale Le Thorel, running from 15 October to 14 November 2024. Offering a comprehensive exploration of 1980s figurative art on both sides of the Atlantic, this exhibition captures the dynamic and multifaceted spirit of this transformative period in art history. 

The 'Transatlantic: Figurations of the 80s' exhibition offers a panorama of the artistic creation on both sides of the pond. Though distinct in their origins and expressions, the various movements shared a common desire to break away from the elitist avant-gardes of the previous two decades, reintegrating popular imagery and exploring new forms of expression. Two essential components of the art of that period emerged: mass media culture as a source of inspiration—with comics, animated series, video games, magazines and advertising—and urban culture with artists' squats, fences, the subway and clubs. Those two cultures were common to that entire generation of artists. 

Hervé Di Rosa, Robert Combas and François Boisrond were France's leading figures of figuration libre. Characterised by a profusion of bright colours and deliberately naive brushstrokes, their work took a joyful and sometimes provocative approach to art. Alongside Roberto Cabot and Catherine Viollet at the same time as Luciano Castelli and Saint Clair Cemin they formed an underground, theory-free community. With his torn-up posters salvaged from the street, Jean Charles Blais considered the medium to be of particular importance. His work explored themes from everyday life and the absurd with poetry and emotion.

In the United States, figurative art took a different turn, with urban art emerging on the streets of New York, at the heart of hip-hop culture, and rapidly expanding into galleries and museums. Young artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf sought to democratise art, which they thought had to invade public space and take on new forms using new media. Haring's work is certainly one of the best accounts of this period, in terms of commitment, activism and criticism of the society of his time (apartheid, nuclear power, racism). Photographer Tseng Kwong Chi—who was an invaluable witness to this effervescence—immortalised artists from this entire generation and Saint Clair Cemin gives a free version of the sculpture.

'Transatlantic: Figurations of the 80s' takes us back to the incredible world of the '80s, while celebrating in style the 30th anniversary of Opera Gallery, which was founded in 1994 in Singapore. Like a catalyst, it shows through this explosion of creativity and visual richness how a whole generation of young artists breathed new life into figurative art. It also highlights the beginnings of the art world as we know it today—a world of freedom and uninhibited expression.