Galerie anne barrault is delighted to present Jochen Gerner’s 7th exhibition in its space.
The title “Monsieur Linéa” is a reference to an Italian animated series broadcast on French television in the 70s. In it, viewers could see a character moving along a horizontal line whose only limit was the will of the cartoonist’s pencil. There will be no character in Jochen Gerner’s next exhibition, but lines, a tide of lines.
This would be the way to transform any object into something interesting. We’d start, for example, with a partly old-fashioned, partly blistered catalogue of furniture, a publication from the 1920s, but not a fine sample of today’s taste, with art deco desks or neat armchairs, but rather a collection of rustic tables with gnarled, carved legs, the heavy stuff as we say today. In this way, we’d be able to look at them differently, to see beyond their appearance. And soon, you’d be surprised to find a certain charm in these thick tops set on large spiral columns with their massive wooden balls like swollen knees. One would sense their unsuspected lightness and grace, long ignored by everyone, which would make one want to acquire them in their drawn form. A bulky, virtually immovable console would be unsuitable for your living room? You don’t need any grandmother’s household equipment, which moreover does not come from your grandmother’s house? No need to block your entrance with a dark wooden, dusty and massive counter? Well, it’s your lucky day: these models now exist in the artist’s revisited versions, slightly veiled to filter out their basic heaviness and each time reveal a new and unique face in interlacing and undulating patterns. Covered in shimmering layers, you’ll still recognize them, but you’ll be able to admire them in a transformed version.
This medium is visible and remains a mystery. You can observe the result at leisure, and the artist himself will be able to explain it to you – within the limits of his availability – but his intervention is decided between him and himself in a mixture of intuition and enthusiasm.
To decorate these enormous tables, we could have put bunches of peonies or of huge gladioli, or arranged dahlias in a chubby vase or a grand style bowl. But since the concrete supports have become Jochen Gerner’s works, we have had to proceed in the same way with the flowers. And so, in the same gesture that has revealed the objects in lines inspired by their own shapes, the flowers have ended up hidden-revealed through a few openings, and sprinkled with coded confetti.
All that remained was to add a few minerals and a ski resort to the set. Why skiing? Well, because it’s an excellent sport, which allows you to draw lines.
Valérie Mréjen
exhibition view Monsieur Linéa by Jochen Gerner, 2025
(photo Aurélien Mole)
exhibition view Monsieur Linéa by Jochen Gerner, 2025
(photo Aurélien Mole)
Jochen Gerner
Tabula, 2024
set of 42 drawings
India ink on printed paper
113 x 156 cm framed
Jochen Gerner
Komondor gyöngyfüggöny , 2022
feutre sur papier imprimé / felt pen on printed paper
21,2 x 15,8 cm
Jochen Gerner
PF 11, 2016-2025
mixed media
Jochen Gerner
PF 13, 2016-2025
mixed media
12,5 x 8,8 cm
Jochen Gerner
Territoire des lignes, 2025
acrylic on printed paper
46 x 33,5 cm
Jochen Gerner
Barbet, 2021
colored pencil on printed paper
12,3 x 8 cm
Jochen Gerner
Incendie 2, 2025
Indian ink and colored felt pens on printed support
22,5 x 16,3 cm
exhibition view Monsieur Linéa by Jochen Gerner, 2025
(photo Aurélien Mole)
Jochen Gerner
Anemone Flowered Japanese Chrysanthemum’s, 2025
encre de chine sur support imprimé
29,8 x 23 cm / 36,2 x 29,7 cm avec cadre
Jochen Gerner
Dessin (02), 2018
encre de Chine sur support imprimé
22 x 16,7 cm / 34,5 x 29 cm (avec cadre)
Louise Bourgoin et Jochen Gerner
Corps fantômes (01), 2024
ballpoint pen (2 colors) and black pen on paper
18,5 x 14 cm