2 July  – 5 September 2020

Thaddaeus Ropac presented an exhibition of new paintings by Jules de Balincourt. This latest series of abstract landscapes, initiated over a year ago and finalised during the first half of 2020, expressed a desire for both physical and emotional escape. Mixing intimate and large formats, many of these paintings conveyed the soothing presence of nature and manifest the need for a shelter far from the world we live in. Created while Jules de Balincourt was splitting his time between Costa Rica, where he had been living partially for the past 20 years, and Brooklyn, where he spent the last few months in lockdown, the paintings resulted from a personal reflection on the possibilities of isolation.

The title of the exhibition There are more eyes than leaves on the trees derived from a vernacular Costa Rican proverb, which conveys the notion that as isolated as you may be, everyone is always aware of your doings, even in a small fishing village lost in the jungle. It also suggests the debate surrounding the human domination of nature in a world quickly undergoing ecological collapse.