" I don't think I'm pushing the bottom out any more than I'm pushing everything-that-isn't-that-bottom in. I wanted everything to be together, one with the other. To remove all the tops and bottoms. "
Born into a family of architects, Martin Barré seemed to want to follow his father's footsteps, but eventually enrolled in painting classes, where he discovered Gauguin, Cézanne and Renoir. It was in the 1950s that he began to take an interest in abstract painting. His work focuses primarily on monochromes split by an almost geometric rift, giving the impression that the canvas is open. He does not create forms, but reveals a new space to the viewer. According to him, the content of an abstract work is the painting, and he sees abstraction as the discovery of non-representation. Strongly influenced by Kasimir Malevich, he declares that there is no way out for figurative painting. Thus, his paintings evolve throughout his career, becoming more and more minimalist, ending on eternal white backgrounds decorated with colored polygons.