Nailya Alexander Gallery is excited to present the special online exhibition Seeing Nature, in honor of the birthday of Denis Brihat, who turns 94 this month. Born in Paris in 1928, Brihat stands today as one of the last and most significant artists of his generation. Brihat is renowned worldwide for both his extraordinary eye and his remarkable prints, whose vibrant hues and textures are achieved entirely by his own hand and through darkroom techniques of his own invention.
Seeing Nature features primarily the artist’s small and delicate photographs of nature: flowers, trees, and grass, found in the area of his home on the Plateau des Claparèdes in the Luberon region of Provence. Brihat draws wonder and grace from a humble thistle, makes a spider web sparkle like the night sky, and renders carrot flowers as elegant as a crystal chandelier. These prints have exquisite texture and constitute the finest examples of Brihat’s work with photographic engraving, a technique that enhances the areas of a print with the highest silver content and adds not only subtle three-dimensionality but also substance and depth to the image.
Some images verge on abstraction, such as Les Herbes (1986), Lichens sur un rocher (1981), Ecorce de bouleau (1972), and Lichen vert (1970). In the dazzling photograph Genévrier (1972) myriad star-like juniper needles glitter with silver. Through his magical vision and his masterful craftsmanship, Brihat shows us how to see nature differently, expanding our perspective to include a profound appreciation of the natural world.
Denis Brihat’s photographs can be found in the collections of public and private institutions worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Center for Creative Photography, Tuscon; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Musée des Beaux Arts, Neuchâtel; the Musée Cantini, Marseille; the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Centre Pompidou, the European House of Photography, and the National Foundation for Contemporary Art, Paris. In 1987, he was awarded the Grand Prix de la Photographie de la Ville de Paris.
