(Figure 1) Frank Stella - Plus ou moins 1964. (Figure 3 left) Robert Simthson - Mirro vertex 1964. (Figure 2 right) Andy Warhol Electric Chair series installation 1971. (Figure 3) Sturtevant Stella Arbeit macht frei 1989, oil painting.

The "Before" special exhibition is on view from May 24 to August 26 at the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art center in Paris. At most or at least, this exhibition theme derives from the minimalist work series titled by Frank Stella in 1964. Steven Parrin was deeply influenced by the diversity of American modernism in the 1960s. The artists presented here — Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Donal Judd, Robert Smithson, Vito Acconci, Kenneth Asnger, and Sturtevant — are all historical sources of direct lineage. Through this special exhibition, one can observe the relationship of inheritance and continuation in modern art history, and engage in dialogue across time and space through the mutual juxtaposition of exhibited works.

Of course, what nurtured Steven Parrin's overall aesthetic world of form is American minimalist art, particularly Frank Stella's paintings, which establish the object's charter — conceptually within its specific form. Thus, the carefully selected works on display here include Frank Stella's painting "Mas o Menos" (1964), which establishes pictorial form according to the inner frame, exploring a logic built upon inferences from the outer edge of the canvas. Andy Warhol's famous "Electric Chair" series (1971) presents standardized multiplicity of (color) reproduction, here installed as a series on a silver wall. Donal Judd's series and transformations — a new spatial sculpture "Untitled," using industrial materials, especially steel and lacquer. If Frank Stella influenced Steven Parrin with the concept of minimalist pictorial form, and Andy Warhol with the possibility of standardized multiplicity and repetition, then Donal Judd contributed serial transformation — space and industrial materials.

In addition, Steven Parrin intends to engage in dialogue with land artist Robert Smithson through organic forms: "Study for a model of the universe to be placed in the Forbidden zone" (2003) and "Steven Parrino Romulus - Remus" (2004), situated between apocalyptic science fiction and absurdist model worship. Here, the exhibition specially presents Smithson's 1964 crystalline labyrinth work "Mirro vertex" constructed from mirrors. There are also Vito Acconci's self-performance video recordings and Kenneth Asnger's vision of video art exploring variations of nature and culture, which profoundly influenced Steven Parrin's experimental film investigations. Finally, the younger-generation artist Sturtevant presents a series of paintings of reappropriation simulationism: "Stella arbeit macht frei" (1989) and "Stella bethlehem s hospital" (1989–1990), in dialogue with Steven Parrin's works, pointing to the various possibilities of post-historical interpretation and liberation in the current postmodern era.