Name: The Days Before
Start: 2026-06-11T11:00:00
End: 2026-07-18T19:00:00
Location: Ketabi Bourdet

Ketabi Bourdet Gallery presents The Days Before, its second exhibition dedicated to the work of Robert Wilson. It is the first exhibition in France devoted to the American artist since his passing in August 2025, at the age of 83.

Conceived in collaboration with the artist’s Estate, the exhibition brings into dialogue two lacquered-wood versions of the Father’s Chair, designed for the set of the play The Days Before: Death, Destruction & Detroit III, alongside a series of 25 charcoal drawings depicting the same chair.

Originally designed in natural oak in 1999, the Father’s Chair was reinterpreted by Robert Wilson in 2022 in black, white, and red lacquered wood, in an edition of six examples per color. Furniture — and chairs in particular - occupies a central place in his work as well as in his personal life. In his theatre and opera productions, chairs acquire a symbolic presence comparable to that of the actors. Even when removed from their original scenographic context, these pieces retain their sculptural power and assert themselves as autonomous works.

In the series of charcoal drawings, Robert Wilson explores the motif of the chair through endlessly renewed variations, moving beyond the subject itself to transform it into a true field of formal experimentation.

Photo credit: Studio Shapiro