THE QUIVER OF THINGS

For the first time, Thierry Genay presents two new series—Glissando and Exmovere—photographic still lifes in which glasses, fruit, and carafes seem to slip out of time. Balancing pictorial precision with a surrealist resonance, the motionless objects here hint at their own movement.

Art history has accustomed us to viewing still life as the most sedate, contemplative genre—one where time seems suspended. Here, Thierry Genay offers a radical counterpoint: what if stillness were merely an illusion, a moment stolen from a world in perpetual flux? Glasses, pitchers, citrus fruits, and stone fruits float within interiors of muted hues—stone blues, zinc grays, watery greens—framed by luminous grids that seem to stretch space itself. Outlines double, and surfaces distort into vibrant echoes, as if the object—captured in its duration rather than a single instant—were imprinting the trace of its own movement. This expansion of reality inevitably calls to mind the great distortions of the 20th century—such as Dalí’s melting watches, where time liquefies under the influence of an internal logic truer than the ticking of clocks. Yet Thierry Genay makes no concessions to the fantastical; his compositions retain a classical pictorial rigor, heir to the Flemish masters and the French still-life tradition, even as his blurred forms and lingering traces introduce a distinctly contemporary sense of unease. The inanimate object becomes a presence: it breathes, it wavers, it seems on the verge of slipping away. Glissando plays with large formats and colored backgrounds—deep blue, teal, ochre—where antique glass bottles and carafes catch and refract light into long, horizontal streaks. Exmovere, at times more intimate, focuses the gaze on pairs and triptychs of objects—pears, pomegranates, mismatched flasks—where movement is more subtle, almost restrained, like a held breath. Each print is offered as a limited edition (1/9 for the 50 cm and 80 cm formats, 1/6 for the 30 cm format), ensuring the rarity of every piece within a collection. Much like a still-life painter who—in the classic tradition—allows themselves total freedom in interpreting reality, Thierry Genay composes a world where the ordinary—a lemon, a glass, a pitcher—becomes the stage for a subtle sense of vertigo. The “quiver of things” is that suspended moment when the motionless finally reveals that it has always been in motion.

An exhibition presented by Antoine Vignault, featuring an exclusive selection of furniture by contemporary artists and 20th-century design pieces curated by Emmanuelle Vidal.

October 2 to December 19, 2026, 2 Place Montoulieu, Toulouse – France
Wednesday to Saturday, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, or by appointment