Referential Abstraction. Philippe Decrauzat, Forms that Omit that which they Allude to

In this text we will analyze the work of artist Philippe Decrauzat (Lausanne , 1974). His work will help us define a type of abstraction which shows formal similarities to iconic works of the tradition of abstract art, reminiscent of minimalist artists such as Robert Morris and Frank Stella, or op art pieces by Waclaw Szpakowski from the 1920s. Despite Philippe Decrauzat’s use of certain codes and formal similarities, his objective is to make a conceptual twist on these. He does so by placing the viewer far from a traditional safe place forged during the twentieth century; the knowledge of abstract art’s language.