WHITE ROOM: Jean―Charles Eustache

THE PILL® is thrilled to present the Guadeloupean-French artist Jean-Charles Eustache’s first solo exhibition in Istanbul between 19 February — 29 March 2025. Titled “White Room”, the exhibition gathers the artist’s recent small-scale paintings, studies of color and light that unfold through variations and repetitions.  

Eustache’s works navigate the delicate balance between truth and fiction, containment and proliferation. Displayed in meticulously ordered grids, Eustache’s paintings evoke the quiet observation of the sunlight gliding over facades and windows, where nature meets architecture. In his meticulously crafted surfaces, the image of blind windows locked in by trompe-l’oeil frames, folds unto itself and unto architectures of abstraction. Rather than obstacles or limits to vision, blind windows and fragments of façades become spaces to explore chromatic modulations and the relationship between light and time. Eustache's paintings are neither abstract nor figurative. His series of square-shaped studies of light, color, and architecture lend consistency to the passage of time as a natural event linked to sunlight. Executed in acrylic on wood, with meticulous care for surface and volume, structured in grids of pastel and muted color, they convey a visual intensity that invites prolonged contemplation and reflects the artist's engagement with the fleeting nature of memory and visual perception.

In Jean-Charles Eustache’s own words, the origin of these paintings lie somewhere between a memory and a reverie:  “It was summer. A crystalline blue embraced the sky. Through my bedroom window, I watched the sun’s slow progress on the walls of the building across the street. Shadows drifted lazily from one corner of the building to the other. As I watched this silent ballet, I was convinced that I was enjoying a privileged moment. I was at peace. I was reminded of Marcel Proust’s account of his impressions of the reflections on a wrought-iron balcony. He analyzes how this subtle play of light awakens in him a feeling of total fulfillment. Proust marvels at how the same motif revives deeply buried memories. Staring at this wall, I experienced a similar process. I was fully aware of the disturbing power of light on objects and on our memories. I was fully aware of an elastic temporality. This sense of time dilation led to a kind of availability and inner joy. In a way, it seemed as if long-forgotten places were resurfacing.” 

Affirming painting as a language distinct from everyday use, Eustache approaches his work with a precision and parsimony reminiscent of a mathematical formula. Reflecting the principles of seriality, he titles his works in distinct groups, identified by combinations of letters and numbers. “A” represents “Area,” where color unfolds as a field confined within trompe-l’oeil frames. “V” denotes “Volume,” evoking a tactile connection where seeing becomes akin to touching the world with one’s fingertips. “P” stands for “Piece,” while also referencing “Paysage” (landscape) or “Plot,” symbolizing a carved-out fragment of the natural world, defined by horizontal layers and horizon lines. Giving its title to the exhibition, WR stands for “White Room”, alluding to the White Cube—enclosed, abstract spaces designed for pure contemplation—or sensory deprivation rooms where introspection emerges in the absence of external stimuli.