To Mother

A small leg that sticks out from a piece of cloth signals this is the truncated body of an otherwise limbless child, standing out on a gray backdrop. This quasi-abstract form that seems charcoal-drawn is in fact an old photograph of a young subject that a screen of paint has rendered unrecognizable.

The result of a bold mixed technique of painting and collage that Llyn Foulkes has been exploring since the 1950s, this work strikes by its simplicity and evocative power. Similarly to Foulkes' Child of W.W. II and O Baby, also held in the Pinault Collection, it explores an aesthetics of the body-child with a sense of absurdity that reminds of Dada.

To Mother is part of a series of a dozen artworks by Llyn Foulkes held in the Pinault Collection and presented together in the group show À Triple tour (“triple locked”) at the Paris Conciergerie, in 2013.