Patrick Saytour at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani: The Ethics of the Fold and Manzoni's Silence

Patrick Saytour's (Nice, 1935 – Aubais, 2023) artistic gestures possess an urgency that transcends mere formal experimentation, delving into ontological inquiry. In Venice, within the historic halls of Palazzo Vendramin Grimani, the Fondazione dell'Albero d'Oro presents his exhibition "Le pli et le temps / The Fold and Time," curated by Daniela Ferretti. This exhibition is a profound exploration of materiality, revealing the existential lexicon of one of the key figures of the French Supports/Surfaces movement.

Within this exhibition, Saytour's delicate fabrics, scorched and solarized, engage in a dialogue with the radical tension and conceptual reductionism of Piero Manzoni. This interaction redefines the boundaries between gesture, time, and memory.

Saytour deliberately occupied a marginal and ironic position within the Supports/Surfaces movement. While the group aimed to expose the fundamental elements of painting, the artist from Nice pushed this investigation towards a form of "theatricality of the mundane." Rejecting traditional canvas, Saytour embraced humble, even kitsch, materials sourced from local markets: plastics, synthetic furs, and common fabrics.

His artworks become archives of rudimentary actions: systematic folds, burns, and immersions lead to a deconstruction of form, transforming the support into a relic of lived experience. The fold, in particular, is not merely a physical manipulation but an ethical stance capable of embracing complexity and irregularity, standing in opposition to the pretense of academic canon perfection.

However, the exhibition's core lies in the convergence of Saytour's material energy and Piero Manzoni's absolute silence. Though originating from different perspectives, both artists shared an obsession with the tabula rasa. Where Saytour accumulates folds and the scars of fire (Brulages), Manzoni responds with the chromatic absence of his Achromes and the conceptual purity of his Lines. Both artists compel us towards a perception that precedes sight: the artwork must be felt as a physical presence before it can be interpreted as an image.

The setting at Palazzo Vendramin Grimani perfectly complements these new occupants. The fabrics exposed to the sun, the draperies from the Plié/Déplié series, interact with the marbles, stuccoes, and the views of the Grand Canal in a play of echoes and contrasts. Saytour's ephemeral materials challenge the permanence of Venetian stone, and the fold becomes a metaphor for time depositing itself in subtle layers, safeguarding shadows and testifying to a fragile resilience.