Salon Sonia
Galerie Zlotowski continues its in-depth work dedicated to Sonia Delaunay with Salon Sonia. The exhibition highlights the artist’s essential role in shaping an entire generation of creators and recreates the spirit of her artists’ salons in situ. A mentor to young artists and a loyal friend to writers, poets, and publishers, Sonia Delaunay spent her life hosting salons, notably at 16 rue Saint-Simon in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, where she lived and worked after the 1930s. The exhibition thus presents a unique dialogue, spanning the years, between Sonia Delaunay and six contemporary artists: Cécile Bart, Karina Bisch, Audrey Guttman, Sheila Hicks, Josselin Vidalenc, and Raphaël Zarka.
Sonia Delaunay had an exceptionally long and varied career, beginning at the start of the 20th century and continuing tirelessly until her death in 1979. Her independent spirit and the multifaceted nature of her practice seem to resonate powerfully in contemporary art. She practiced a form of abstraction that was both conceptual, with an ultra-simple and recognizable vocabulary, and at the same time sensitive and vibrant, with an embrace of imperfection. The extraordinary number of media she explored and projects she participated in illustrates her rejection of hierarchies between artistic and craft practices. She always championed art “in life,” founding with Robert Delaunay the concept of “simultaneism” in action, which was notably exemplified in the 1920s by her entrepreneurial ventures in fashion, resulting in a prolific output of textile design.
Sonia Delaunay’s artistic life was also marked by collaborations and encounters that gave rise to numerous projects guided by an emotional connection. These included, in chronological order, Blaise Cendrars, Amedeo de Souza Cardoso, Tristan Tzara, Felix Aublet, the Arp couple, and, in the 1960s, Jacques Damase, who brought a new energy to her work. The works in the “Salon Sonia” exhibition seem to follow these threads, each in their own way: unexpected and playful mediums, and pieces that place color at the heart of the composition—a principle to which Sonia Delaunay remained faithful throughout her life. This is not a solemn and devout tribute, but rather an informal salon celebrating a dynamic, vibrant, and sensitive artistic practice.
