after last year’s exhibition in paris, i had hoped to see a good follow-up from antoine corbet and thank god he didn’t disappoint. his new portraits are alive with a dreaminess which evoke a soulful melange of melancholy and escape. the depiction of distant longing imbues his latest work with a misplaced presence, that of something that isn’t there… anymore or never was. his deliberate erasing of parts of their heads is a metaphor for that un-presence of mind and reflection of elsewhere. like vague recollections of forgotten lovers, such is the strength of his pensive subjects; that even with a distracted and averted gaze they captivate and beguile.