Front view of Harold Ancart Untitled 2020 © Harold Ancart/ SABAM, Brussels Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner
Front view of Harold Ancart Untitled 2020 © Harold Ancart/ SABAM, Brussels Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner

Harold Ancart : La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End)

David Zwirner is pleased to present an exhibition of new sculptures by the Belgian-born, New York–based artist Harold Ancart (b. 1980) at the gallery’s Paris location. This will be the artist’s first solo show in Paris and will mark his third with David Zwirner since joining the gallery in 2018.

This exhibition will feature a new group of sculptures, part of a series of works that the artist began in the summer of 2017. These three-dimensional relief forms are cast in concrete, and painted with rich layers of color that recall art-historical, architectural, and everyday influences.

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Image: Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2020

Dates
October 18November 20, 2021
An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

“Ancart’s gesture of reproducing, in paint, an acutely desired space is most direct in … a simple concrete cast of a swimming pool. This work is a continuation of a series that Ancart began one especially hot summer, in 2017, in New York, where swimming pools are rare. Featuring the bare minimum of detail, a notional basin and a couple steps, the sculpture provides an architecture for the contemplation of paint as pool.”

—Laura McLean-Ferris, 2021

 
A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 22 3/4 x 31 3/4 inches (5.1 x 57.8 x 80.6 cm)
A photo of Tadao Ando's, Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Tadao Ando, Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by Sergio López

Tadao Ando, Casa Wabi, Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by Sergio López

Le Corbusier's pool at the Cité Radieuse, Marseille, France.

Le Corbusier, Cité Radieuse, Marseille, France

Le Corbusier, Cité Radieuse, Marseille, France

“To me, the understanding of form is the understanding of color. This is what the visual environment is made of: masses of colors that overlap, blend, assemble, or dissociate from one another, and that generate forms. Should there be one source, the source would be whatever the sight gets lost into.”

—Harold Ancart, 2021

 

 
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 21 1/4 x 33 1/2 inches (5.1 x 54 x 85.1 cm)
A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 25 3/16 x 35 1/18 inches (5.1 x 64.0 x 89.0 cm)

“What I have experienced in time is that if you dream of something hard enough it will eventually materialize. Almost as if having the idea of something were already creating it.”

—Harold Ancart, 2021

 
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 24 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches (5.1 x 62.2 x 90.2 cm)

“I am drawn to the physicality of color and altogether to the pleasure of applying it onto whatever surface I may find suitable. It is, to me, instant gratification. There is nothing more beautiful than seeing pigment responding to light.”

—Harold Ancart, 2021

 
A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 23 1/2 x 24 inches (5.1 x 59.7 x 61 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 20 x 31 inches (5.1 x 50.8 x 78.7 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 1/4 x 26 3/4 inches (5.1 x 84.5 x 67.9 cm)
A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

A photo of Casa Malaparte in Capri.

Adalberto Libera, Casa Malaparte, Capri

Adalberto Libera, Casa Malaparte, Capri

A Photo courtesy of Ricardo Bofill titled La Muralla Roja in Spain.

Ricardo Bofill, La Muralla Roja, Spain. Photo courtesy Ricardo Bofill

Ricardo Bofill, La Muralla Roja, Spain. Photo courtesy Ricardo Bofill

The pools point to a range of architectural, art-historical, and everyday influences and to Ancart’s nonhierarchical, democratic eye. They draw equally from the formal and structural language of Adalberto Libera’s Casa Malaparte, Tadao Ando’s Casa Wabi, Carlo Scarpa, and Ricardo Bofill as well as actual swimming pools that can be observed in suburban areas around the world.

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 35 x 23 inches (5.1 x 88.9 x 58.4 cm)

“With echoes of abstract color experiments, such as Josef Albers’s Homage to the Square series (1950–1976), … the concrete pool, a container for pigment, becomes a locus for attention and a container for the eye to swim in.”

—Laura McLean-Ferris, 2021

 
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 30 1/2 x 22 inches (5.1 x 77.5 x 55.9 cm)
An oil on blotting paper artwork by Josef Albers, titled Variant/Adobe, dated 1947.

Josef Albers

Variant/Adobe, 1947
Oil on blotting paper
Image: 16 3/4 x 23 1/2 inches (42.5 x 59.6 cm)
Framed: 21 1/2 x 28 3/8 inches (54.6 x 72.1 cm)
A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

A painting by David Hockney, titled Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), dated1972.
David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972 (detail). © David Hockney. Photo Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter
 
David Hockney, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), 1972 (detail). © David Hockney. Photo Art Gallery of New South Wales / Jenni Carter
 
An acrylic, fluorescent acrylic, and Roll-A-Tex work on canvas by Peter Halley, titled Wonder, dated 2018.

Peter Halley, Wonder, 2018 (detail). Courtesy the artist and Galeria Senda

Peter Halley, Wonder, 2018 (detail). Courtesy the artist and Galeria Senda

An oil painting on Masonite by Josef Albers, titled Homage to the Square: Apodictic, dated 1950.

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Apodictic, 1950

Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Apodictic, 1950

A work from Richard Diebenkorn

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #79, 1975. © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

Richard Diebenkorn, Ocean Park #79, 1975. © Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

Ancart’s pools recall the work of Josef Albers, Richard Diebenkorn, Peter Halley, and David Hockney, among others. They function, in a sense, as relief paintings that are situated within the three-dimensional space of the viewer, while their painted surfaces offer a range of visual and formal possibilities.

A detail from an untitled work by Harold Ancart, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

Harold Ancart, Untitled, 2021 (detail)

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 1/4 x 23 inches (5.1 x 84.5 x 58.4 cm)

“What makes a good painting to me is a painting that, once done, still carries a transformative potential. A painting that carries enough promises.”

—Harold Ancart, 2021

An oil stick on concrete by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 22 1/2 x 38 inches (5.1 x 57.2 x 96.5 cm)
Aerial view of the Therme Vals outdoor swimming pool, designed by Peter Zumthor, in Vals, Graubünden, Switzerland.

Peter Zumthor, Therme Vals, Vals, Switzerland. Photo by Micha L. Rieser

Peter Zumthor, Therme Vals, Vals, Switzerland. Photo by Micha L. Rieser

A photo of Luis Barragan's, Casa Pedregal, Pedregal, Mexico.

Luis Barragan, Casa Pedregal, Pedregal, Mexico

Luis Barragan, Casa Pedregal, Pedregal, Mexico

An aerial view of the pool at Ricardo Bofili's family house, designed by Ricardo Bofili, in Montras, Girona, Spain.

Ricardo Bofill, La Muralla Roja, Spain. Photo courtesy Ricardo Bofill

Ricardo Bofill, La Muralla Roja, Spain. Photo courtesy Ricardo Bofill

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
3 x 75 x 50 inches (7.6 x 190.5 x 127.0 cm)
An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An installation view of an exhibition titled Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), at David Zwirner, Paris, in 2021.

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

Installation view, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur (The Deep End), David Zwirner, Paris, 2021

An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 x 24 inches (5.1 x 83.8 x 61.0 cm)

“The deep end opposes itself to the shallow end. One might rightfully argue that these sculptures are shallow. However, these sculptures are painted. Isn’t something painted automatically granted infinite depth?”

—Harold Ancart, 2021

Harold Ancart potrait

Harold Ancart, 2020. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Harold Ancart, 2020. Photo by Jason Schmidt

Both quotes by the curator and writer Laura McLean-Ferris are excerpted from Harold Ancart: Traveling Light—a new publication exploring a body of work in which an immersive landscape of trees, mountains, and seas becomes a meditation on painting itself. 

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Learn More about Works by Harold Ancart

Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
Installation view of the exhibition, Harold Ancart: La Grande Profondeur The Deep End, at David Zwirner in New York, dated 2021.
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 23 1/2 x 24 inches (5.1 x 59.7 x 61 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 21 1/4 x 33 1/2 inches (5.1 x 54 x 85.1 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 22 3/4 x 31 3/4 inches (5.1 x 57.8 x 80.6 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 25 3/16 x 35 1/18 inches (5.1 x 64.0 x 89.0 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 20 x 31 inches (5.1 x 50.8 x 78.7 cm)
An oil stick on concrete by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 22 1/2 x 38 inches (5.1 x 57.2 x 96.5 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 24 1/2 x 35 1/2 inches (5.1 x 62.2 x 90.2 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 30 1/2 x 22 inches (5.1 x 77.5 x 55.9 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 1/4 x 26 3/4 inches (5.1 x 84.5 x 67.9 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 35 x 23 inches (5.1 x 88.9 x 58.4 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 1/4 x 23 inches (5.1 x 84.5 x 58.4 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 40 1/2 x 24 inches (5.1 x 102.9 x 61.0 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
3 x 75 x 50 inches (7.6 x 190.5 x 127.0 cm)
An oil stick on concrete artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick on concrete
2 x 33 x 24 inches (5.1 x 83.8 x 61.0 cm)
An oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame
Image: 22 1/2 x 30 1/8 inches (57 x 76.5 cm)
Framed: 24 x 31 1/2 inches (61 x 80 cm)
An oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame
Image: 22 1/2 x 30 1/8 inches (57 x 76.5 cm)
Framed: 24 x 31 1/2 inches (61 x 80 cm)
An oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame artwork by Harold Ancart, titled Untitled, dated 2021.

Harold Ancart

Untitled, 2021
Oil stick and pencil on canvas in artist's frame
Image: 39 7/8 x 56 1/8 inches (101.5 x 142.5 cm)
Framed: 41 1/2 x 57 1/2 inches (105.4 x 146 cm)

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