Guillaume Bresson's Battle of Rangueil Bridges Old Masters and Suburban Violence

Guillaume Bresson, born 1982 in Toulouse and now based in Berlin, presents paintings that fuse contemporary suburban conflict with Renaissance and Baroque composition. His works, first shown at Bourouina Gallery in Berlin in autumn 2008, are on view at Sorry We're Closed gallery in Brussels from September 1 to October 31, 2009, and will be exhibited at Galerie Nathalie Obadia in Paris in spring 2010. Bresson's paintings depict nocturnal clashes between rival gangs in parking garages and housing projects, drawing on cinematic references such as Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine and David Fincher's Fight Club. The artist employs a process similar to Nicolas Poussin: he begins with sketches, then stages scenes with actors wearing Adidas clothing, photographs them, assembles the images on a computer, projects the composite onto canvas, and paints. The chiaroscuro lighting recalls Caravaggio, while the crowded, panicked figures echo Poussin's The Abduction of the Sabine Women. Bresson's work imagines unseen violence in the banlieues, giving it a mythological, biblical aura. The title refers to Rangueil, a suburb of Toulouse where Bresson spent much of his youth.