The Galerie Montmartre is proud to present the exclusive show Face to Face by Gil Bruvel and Silvio Porzionato. Both artists honor us by unveiling new and unique pieces created especially for this event. The show is a highlight of our relationship with the artists. It expands Bruvel’s representation in Montmartre and symbolizes the beginning of a new collaboration with Porzionato. In the gallery above, we showcase the works of Gil Bruvel. 

Silvio Porzionato and Gil Bruvel share the same passion regarding the representation of the human face, in their own singular approaches. One is a painter and the other is a sculptor, but they both have the same willingness of looking straight into the subject’s eyes. Their art is not limited to portraiture which alludes to the art of representation. The distinction is indeed subtle. Portraiture and face representation share similarities in the history of art. Both artists are interested in depicting something that is beyond classical portraiture.

Silvio Porzionato’s painted faces on canvas and Gil Bruvel’s sculpted faces escape the classical conventions of the portrait genre, which usually refers to the personification of the subject, some degree of resemblance, and the respect of the Flemish painting codes. Unrestricted and dreamlike, their works combine fiction and reality to address the notion of the otherness. These faces stare intensely into us, not to satisfy a narcissistic desire but because they wish to grasp the ‘trace of itself’. This concept was defined by the 20th-century French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas as having an idea of Infinity and as the moment in time when the observer prefers to confront themselves with the other and their enigma rather than themselves. The face to face is a language of righteousness and dignity, which emphasizes the face’s vulnerability. Eyes and emotions are exposed and vulnerable. It initiates a meditative and intimate dialogue in which the observer is as much seen as they are looking. As opposed to the hysteric identification glorified by selfie culture, the faces by Silvio Porzionato and Gil Bruvel claim universality and interiority more than anonymity. This exhibition finds a particular resonance in the global village of Montmartre.