13 June - 30 September 2007 "What I like about Charles Matton is the obsessive familiarity he maintains with objects, a feeling of obviousness that is more than an esthetic feeling and which is more akin to exorcism and magic. Making objects emerge is more important than making them mean something." Jean Baudrillard "Reconstitutions of places", "reductions of places", "miniature spaces" are some of the definitions given to Charles Matton's pieces, which he simply calls "boîtes" or boxes. "Making objects emerge is more important than making them mean something" wrote Jean Baudrillard in 1987, in the preface to the Matton exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. He was referring to Matton's early 'boxes', which were thorough observations of reality, extremely detailed inventories in which objects, as they 'emerged', had to be faithful reflexions of reality. These included L'atelier de Francis Bacon (Bacon's studio), various sculptors' studios, La chambre d'une femme désordre (untidy woman's bedroom), Paul Bowles' bedroom in Tangiers, or Le grenier de Leopold von Sacher Masoch (von Sacher-Masoch's attic). Challenging appearances and recording that which seems in order to gain a better understanding of it have both been important features of Charles Matton's artwork since his early paintings. This is true of all the media he uses : painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film or video. This pursuit of reality continues beyond the fringe, on the irremediable "other side" of appearences, thanks to Matton's use of mirrors. In the "vampire studios" boxes, for example - Armoire à glace (wardrobe with mirror), Salle de bains carrelée (tiled bathroom), and La chambre d'Anna Freud (Anna Freud's bedroom in London) - a false mirror reflects the objects in the box but never the face of the visitor. Other illusionistic boxes include libraries, cellars or hotel foyers, in which mirrors reflecting each other create infinite perspectives within a tiny space, in which the visitor can enjoy losing himself. The photographs that accompany Charles Matton's boxes in Etats de lieux offer a new way of exploring his work. The paradox of juxtaposing appearances - on a reduced scale - and their almost life-size representations produces a sense of confusion and playfully calls into question our habitual ways of seeing. Exhibition organized with the support of Neuflize Vie. Film schedule : The MEP will be screening a number of films on Charles Matton. For further details, see "Current events/Films".