Rero started off thinking he would found a sect, but instead opted for preparing a new exhibition for Backslash.

The title he chose proposes a new way of thinking about the control the mind has over matter, exploring the way we find it impossible to live meaningless lives. His goal with this exhibition is to question the notion of secular spirituality, a seemingly contradictory concept. The saying MIND OVER MATTER implies that the mind, often unconsciously, directly resolves an issue before even thinking about it. This Buddhist-like mantra underlines the fact that, in reality, the essence of truth lies not in the senses but in the intellect and logical reasoning. And yet, matter is by nature indispensable. Rero delves into the concept of the indivisibility of these two elements, without really revealing his own solution. True to his artistic mission, he crosses out the questions he raises and leaves viewers free to interpret them.

Hovering over these issues is the central question: what is matter and how is it linked to our minds? There is, of course, the idea of something solid, something we can touch. But there is also, and importantly, dark matter (a mass of 'nothing', at least to the human eye) and grey matter, otherwise known as the brain, home to the intellect and therefore the mind. This multi-faceted definition knocks the idea of MIND OVER MATTER totally off balance so that it turns in circles, just like the ouroboros, the famous serpent eating its own tail.

With the MIND OVER MATTER exhibition, Rero is using matter as a pretext to question our relationship to spirituality and the values our society is built on. This approach contrasts with the essence of his artistic work, usually triggered by words. Here, he has endeavoured to use new and inhabitual materials to enrich his artistic language. Consequently, his aphorisms interact with new media which he subverts in his quest to examine them more closely. In this show, the artist makes use of burr walnut, blocks of Himalayan salt, Agate stones, sheets of stone, hemp fibres and concrete. And the question arises, will concrete still be as solid in a few centuries' time? Will a material we now see as the very embodiment of indestructibility still be as durable? Or will it have crumbled away and disappeared, leaving only an idea or concept behind it as it turns into an immaterial spirit?

From Rio de Janeiro to Paris, French artist Rero has established an artistic identity rooted in his famous letters crossed out with a thick black line. His work has been exhibited in a wide range of museums throughout the world, including at the Centre Pompidou and Grand Palais in Paris, MAC/VAL in Vitry-sur-Seine, MAC in Bogota, Fondation Montresso in Marrakech, Art Science Museum in Singapore and Caixa Cultural in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia.