You’re Invited to Gather Around Alexandre Benjamin Navet’s Fantastical Table

Discover the captivating world of Alexandre Benjamin Navet’s “L’Invitation,” now on view at Galerie Derouillon in Paris, through February 15. Renowned for his vibrant use of color and innovative interplay of painting and sculpture, Navet reimagines the everyday ritual of gathering around a table in this poetic and immersive exhibition. Blending inspiration from Henri Matisse’s iconic cut-outs and Giorgio Morandi’s serene still lifes, “L’Invitation” transforms domestic objects into dynamic protagonists in a dreamlike narrative. Explore how Navet’s signature technique of layered, cut-out forms and shadow play brings this intimate supper scene to life, offering a feast for the eyes and the imagination.

A Feast of Forms and Color at Galerie Derouillon

In “L’Invitation,” Alexandre Benjamin Navet transforms Galerie Derouillon into a poetic tableau, conjuring the universal ritual of gathering around a table. Through a synthesis of painting, sculpture, and scenography, Navet invites us into an imaginary dinner scene suspended in time. Like a still from an unwritten play, the exhibition becomes a stage where objects—plates, glasses, chairs—transcend their utilitarian roles to become silent protagonists. Each piece evokes a sense of intimacy and shared experience, bridging the gap between the real and the fantastical, the everyday, and the extraordinary.

Navet, celebrated for his large-scale scenographic installations in urban spaces, brings his public dialogue into a more personal domain. Here, he crafts a setting where every painted surface and sculpted form extends an invitation to dream, to linger, and to engage with the stories implied by these domestic objects. The table, central to both the narrative and composition, anchors this imaginary supper. It becomes a metaphor for connection, exchange, and shared memory, while the surrounding objects evoke moments past, present, and yet to come.

Reimagining the Domestic, Inspired by Matisse and Morandi

Navet’s work in “L’Invitation” is rooted in the tension between the tangible and the imagined. Through a process of layering and cutting, he creates reliefs where forms—though flatly painted—achieve a trompe-l’œil quality, appearing almost sculptural. These cut-out wooden pieces, painstakingly assembled, introduce a three-dimensionality that both heightens and destabilizes the viewer’s perception. Shadow play, employed for the first time in his oeuvre, further animates the work, imbuing each object with a vibrancy that suggests motion.

The result is a series of “small theaters,” as Navet himself calls them, where light, color, and form converge to depict scenes of everyday life reimagined. The influence of Henri Matisse’s iconic cut-outs resonates strongly in Navet’s technique. Like Matisse, Navet uses cut-out forms to create bold compositions that blur the line between painting and sculpture. Both artists share a fascination with simplifying forms to their essence, while infusing their works with dynamic energy through the interplay of shapes and colors.

Where Matisse used scissors to “paint with color,” Navet employs cut wooden forms to construct layered, immersive narratives. His approach introduces not only the tactile quality seen in Matisse’s Jazz series but also a sense of immediacy, as if the viewer is stepping into a living, breathing composition. Both artists’ works invite us to see beyond the surface, suggesting that the interplay between form and color can evoke emotion, movement, and a deeper sense of connection.

A Supper in Suspense in “L’Invitation”

At the heart of “L’Invitation” lies a dramaturgy that elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary. Navet’s dinner scene is more than a depiction of a shared meal; it is an exploration of anticipation and possibility. The setting is meticulously arranged, yet there are no diners present—only the traces of their presence, the objects they might use, and the shadows they might cast.

This absence transforms the scene into a space for projection. What conversations might take place around this table? What relationships are implied by the arrangement of chairs and plates? Navet leaves these questions unanswered, inviting viewers to construct their own narratives. The open-endedness of his work mirrors the universal nature of its subject. A dinner table, after all, is both deeply personal and profoundly communal, a site where individual stories intersect and overlap.

Like Tom Wesselmann’s Still Life paintings, Navet’s work explores the boundaries between the object and its representation, finding beauty in the everyday. But where Wesselmann’s works often lean into bold, graphic realism, Navet’s approach is softer, more dreamlike, steeped in nostalgia and possibility.

From Urban Spaces to Intimate Moments

Navet’s previous work, characterized by large-scale public interventions, often sought to disrupt the everyday with moments of unexpected beauty. In his urban scenographies, he transformed streetscapes and plazas into colorful, immersive environments that invited passersby to pause and engage.

With “L’Invitation,” Navet shifts this approach inward, creating a setting that feels both intimate and expansive. The exhibition space becomes a private stage where viewers are not merely spectators but participants, invited to enter and inhabit the scene. This shift from public to private, from monumental to intimate, underscores the adaptability of Navet’s practice and his commitment to creating works that resonate on a human scale.

Alexandre Benjamin Naviet Uses The Table as a Symbol

The table, a recurring motif in Navet’s work, takes on new significance in “L’Invitation”. As a physical and symbolic anchor, it represents not only the act of gathering but also the connections that sustain us. The table is a space where stories are shared, where bonds are forged, and where the mundane becomes meaningful.

In Navet’s hands, the table becomes a site of transformation. Like Matisse’s cut-outs, where everyday scenes became exuberant bursts of color and form, Navet’s works reframe the familiar to reveal its poetic potential. Plates, glasses, and chairs emerge not just as objects but as characters in a narrative of connection and exchange.

By combining the tactile immediacy of Matisse’s cut-outs with the introspective stillness of Morandi’s compositions, Navet creates a body of work that feels both timeless and contemporary. His dinner table is not merely a setting but an invitatio —to pause, to reflect, and to imagine the stories that unfold in the spaces we inhabit.

Through “L’Invitation,” Alexandre Benjamin Navet reminds us of the beauty found in the interplay of form, color, and memory. His work is a celebration of the everyday and an ode to the transformative power of art, where a simple table can become a world of possibility.