Lighting Cross

S t é p h a n e D a f f l o n

Madrid 1 8 . 0 9 . 1 4 – 2 9 . 1 1 . 1 4

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@parraromero i n f o @ p a r r a - r o m e r o . c o m

P a r r a & R o m e r o © 2 0 2 6 A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D

Parra & Romero is pleased to present the first solo exhibition by Stéphane Dafflon (Switzerland, 1972) at the gallery. Titled ‘Lighting Cross’, the exhibition features a new range of paintings and sculptures created specifically for this show.

Stéphane Dafflon’s practice belongs to a generation that represents a development on a long tradition of Swiss visual art and which is well known and understood already in the broad sense. This tradition is rooted in the culture of design and the rationalism of abstract art, extending, with the neo avant-gardes of the 1960s and then with postmodernism, into an occasionally tongue-in-cheek critique of the history of the original avant-garde movements.

His works are a result of recombination of mental images, cultural trends, graphic design, minimalism, modernism, postmodernism, added a new pop reflection on the digital image and the possibilities of sampling, on commercial art and on the world of consumption. Stephane’s work as well as his generation complete the mix with unbridled passion for the sound and music, especially for Stéphane, Free Jazz Music is a connection to noise and the idea of improvisation, producing an encounter between the self-absorbed and inexpressive painting made in Switzerland and the most underground American dream.

Dafflon’s paintings, wall drawings, installations and sculptures are elemental abstractions constructed like visual signs. They always begin at the computer screen. Digitally manipulating line, colour, pattern, orientation, and size, Dafflon ultimately obtains a rhythmic control spatiality that is at once economical and playful. From within the rigorous nature of many of his works emerge nuanced eccentricities or deviations from the norm that startle the eye. This active energy is further amplified by the engulfing scale and bright colour palette typical of Dafflon’s works.

For ‘Lighting Cross’, Dafflon uses unfinished crosses as patterns, which result effects, torsions on the edge of the works. Two techniques are used, paintings on canvas and iron sculptures. The patterns of the canvas produce white dots. The sizes of these dots vary, which makes an impression of distance with the result of a new composition always playing with perception and encounter with the viewer as well as the viewer’s impact onto the rationality of the space. At the same time, the white background of the paintings extends outside the frame submerging them with the walls of the gallery.

For the sculptures, the same patterns are used, but with an industial technic, the laser cut steel. These pieces play with the entire space of the gallery, floor, walls… making different compositions. Using this, Dafflon catches the attention of the viewer, who is placed inside the composition.
Born in 1972, Stéphane Dafflon lives and works in Geneva. His work has been widely exhibited in venues including Parra & Romero | Ibiza, Spain, 2014; Kunst (Zeug) Haus, Rapperswill, Switzerland, 2014; Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 2013; Fri-Art, Fribourg, 2013; Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland, 2013; Kunsthalle, Bern, Switzerland, 2012; Centre Pompidou mobile, Libourne, France, 2012; La Maison Rouge, Paris, 2012; Mercedes Benz Museum, Stuttgart, 2011; MAMCO, Geneva, Switzerland, 2009; Frac Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France, 2006; Circuit, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2005.