Alexis Ralaivao: Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows)

Kasmin announces an exhibition of new paintings by Alexis Ralaivao (b. 1991, France), Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows), which will open on May 15, 2025 at 509 West 27th Street in New York. This marks Kasmin’s second solo exhibition of Ralaivao’s work, and the first since announcing representation of the artist in 2024.

For Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows), Ralaivao unveils a suite of new paintings rendered entirely in black and white. Working within the self-imposed parameters of a reduced palette, Ralaivao sharpens his attention to composition, light and shadow. In arresting portraits and still life tableaux, Ralaivao magnifies the most subtle of details at grand scale by strategically framing his subjects. Influenced by film noir, Ralaivao’s works absorb the viewer into a romanticized world of drama and suspense as if the viewer has arrived at a narrative in media res.

Shadows command the compelling tenor of Ralaivao’s compositions. The artist employs a stark use of light to create depth and model the forms of his subjects and their material surroundings. In one example, the shadows absorb the neck of a figure who pulls softly at the collar of her sweater, exposing the glimmer of a metallic necklace. In another, a figure under a narrow spotlight savors the solace of anonymity. More than the enigma of darkness, Ralaivao’s shadows offer a profound gravitas that contrasts the presence of light in the reflective shine of an earring or the transparent shimmer of glass tableware.

With filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock’s narratives and images in mind, Ralaivao’s works reflect the intensity of the film noir movement. Each painting on view shares the existential quality of scenes from French director Henri-Georges Clouzot’s films, the creativity of American photographer Man Ray, and the intimate realism of Johannes Vermeer. The exhibition takes its title from an influential 1933 essay on Japanese aesthetics; its renowned author Jun’ichirō Tanizaki pays tribute to the charm that shadows bring to everyday elements such as faces and objects, in contrast to modern lighting’s erosion of their subtle atmospheres.

Since returning to his home city of Rennes, France, after a number of years abroad, Ralaivao has established himself in a new studio. He continues to approach painting as a series of formal challenges, indicative of the self-taught ethos that defines his practice. Éloge de l’ombre (In Praise of Shadows) culminates from one such challenge, further expanding the artist’s signature exploration of the codes and conducts of contemporary social life. 

Ralaivao’s sensual and diaristic oil paintings find affective charge in everyday scenes, reinventing the tradition of genre painting for the contemporary age. His works deftly synthesize wide-reaching cultural reference points, drawing from his ongoing, intensive autodidactic studies of the history of painting, the language of cinematography, admiration of objets d'art, and French literature. With a deep understanding and appreciation of the artistic allusions in his work, his sensitive encapsulations of daily life possess a timeless humanity and profound intimacy.

Request a Preview

Press Inquiries