Paul Wallach's Fragile Sculptures at Galerie Jaeger Bucher

Paul Wallach, born in New York in 1960 and based in Paris since 1994, studied under minimalist abstract sculptor Mark di Suvero. His small painted wood sculptures, often hung by a wire, are on view at Galerie Jaeger Bucher in Paris from February 16 to May 11, 2013. Each piece bears a cryptic title that opens imaginary perspectives. 'Throne' pairs a wobbly white stool on the floor with a colorful painting mounted above against the wall. 'Absence disparue' takes the form of a tiny house whose exploded sculpture, as if corrected by a Constructivist artist, hangs from a string. 'Beginning to End,' a simple geometric black line on the white gallery wall, is multiplied and visually disrupted by an abstract architecture of wooden bars. Wallach's work avoids grand, loud forms; instead, it is psychological and internalized. His fragile creations hover between reality and metaphysics, often uncertain of their own status—they are both sculptures and paintings, rudimentary assemblages. Their virtue lies in a strong metaphysical coefficient. Appearances are insufficient; effect must be bent to plastic experience and lived reality. The text is by Paul Ardenne.