The Stolen Time of Guillaume Rouchon

Art

The Stolen Time of Guillaume Rouchon

by Keren Goldberg | 02.03.16

Twenty Two, group show, installation view, Tempo Rubato, 2015

Avner Ben Gal, Skinny Returns to Asbestos, Installation view, 2015

Tempo Rubato, meaning stolen time in Italian, is a playful musical term referring to stealing tempo by speeding up and slowing down the rhythm of a musical score. This indeed seems like the perfect name for the gallery Guillaume Rouchon opened five years ago. Located in a picturesque alley in the bohemian southern Noga neighbourhood, and isolated from the company of other galleries, Tempo Rubato is a bit of an outsider, offering the viewer a graceful pause, an enclave of stolen time and space.

Outside view of the gallery with installation by Yariv Spivak, 2013

The gallery itself is quite small, but this didn’t stop Rouchon from curating important and thoughtful shows, all adhering to sensitive aesthetical standards. He represents young Israeli artists, including Raz Gomeh, Oren Pinhassi, Eden Bannet, Oran Hoffmann and Noa Glazer, along side more establish names such as Avner Ben Gal and Gil Marco Shani. Also represented are international artists such as the young French-Indian Nadira Husain, Canadian artist Paul P. and German artist Susanne M. Winterling.

TR_Gomeh_2011_Installation_Copyright_Dafna_Gazit-min

Raz Gomeh, installation view, 2011, photo credit: Dafna Gazit

But Tempo Rubato’s contribution to the local art scene is seen mainly in its promotion of less known or less exhibited deceased artists, such as the artist and critic Joav Barel, or painter and puppeteer Lutz Hatzor. Rouchon also held two important shows for the late Swiss artist Xanti Schawinsky, a prominent figure in the Bauhaus movement during the 1920-30s.

Xanti Schawinsky, Spheras, installation view, 2015

Lutz Hatzor, Idol, 1970

Like his gallery, Rouchon is a special character in the Telavivian art scene. His nationality is surprisingly hard to pin down – originally from France, he lived in Berlin and New York, and arrived to Tel Aviv in 2009. In two months time he will reduce the gallery’s activities in Tel Aviv in order to pursue large international curatorial projects.