The Laws of Hospitality
huile sur toile, 116 x 89 cm
The sea is not just a swimming pool, nor an aquarium, but also a wall and sometimes a tomb. The young man from Frontex, the European border police, here on duty, may not be entirely convinced of the legitimacy of his role in the eyes of the children. Where one arm of authority was enough, he puts in both and freezes in his pose… Pierre Klossowski spoke of ‘gestural solecism’ to designate a gesture that signifies an emotion and its opposite: are not the two outstretched arms also those that reach out to embrace? ‘The Laws of Hospitality’ is the title of a literary triptych written by none other than the older brother of the painter Balthus