Olivier Mosset and Carlos Bunga's Provocative Exhibition at Christopher Grimes Gallery

An exhibition at Christopher Grimes Gallery pairs French artist Olivier Mosset with Portuguese artist Carlos Bunga, highlighting their contrasting approaches to abstraction. Mosset, born in 1944 and a former member of the BMPT group, presents two large wall paintings, including one adapted from a mural seen in Mexico, characterized by anonymous, stark monochromes and stripes. Bunga, born in 1976, contributes handmade objects and architectural interventions that evoke Arte Povera and Surrealism, with references to Doris Salcedo. The show, reviewed in April 2015, explores tensions between historical mediation and ahistorical warmth, with Mosset's work resisting art-historical referents while Bunga's practice appears more derivative. Mosset's paintings, such as blue and yellow diamonds, are described as confident and strident, yet empty, contrasting with Bunga's humble, specific artworks. The pairing underscores Mosset's refusals of traditional abstract painting arguments, with his pieces feeling local and strange, akin to suburban or highway elements placed in a gallery setting.