Alice, 2017
Polyester, fake fur
240 x 150 cm
Constantin, 2017
Waxprint, cotton, fake fur
193 x 114 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Mike, 2017
Waxprint, fake fur
192 x 112 cm
Unica, 2017
Upholstery fabric, faux leather, cotton
189 x 124 cm
Henri, 2018
Cotton, iridescent polyester gauze, faux leather, velvet
215 x 112 cm
Jack, 2017
Velvet, stiff fleece
230 x 114 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Jim, 2017
Cotton, terrycloth
215 x 145 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Anna, 2017
Side 1: faux leather, cotton
215 x 133 cm
Anna, 2017
Side 2: cotton
215 x 133 cm
Robert, 2017
Polyester, satin
215 x 142 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Walt, 2018
Cotton sheet, cotton
150 x 120 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Elzie, 2017
Cotton, faux leather
214 x 137 cm
Private collection, France
Maria, 2017
Cotton
215 x 140 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Agnieszka, 2018
Flocked polyester, iridescent polyester gauze
215 x 106 cm
Benjamin, 2017
Ink on cotton sheet, cotton
244 x 204 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Sigmar, 2017
Waxprint, fake fur
192 x 116 cm
Mel, 2018
Velvet
230 x 113 cm
Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques - CNAP, Paris
Joseph, 2018
Polyester, cotton
215 x 145 cm
Ida, 2017
Cotton sheet, cotton
149 x 116 cm
Louise, 2017
Polyester, fake fur
200 x 157 cm
Marie, 2017
Iridescent polyester, polyester, cotton
215 x 136 cm
Production Institut Français, Cluj (RO) / FNAGP, Fondation des artistes, Paris
The series of 20 banners, possible contemporary flags for opposing parties in a divided world, can be interpreted as fragmented portraits of potential candidates, all aspiring to represent the largest number of people. The titles of these President·es are first names and stand as portraits, encouraging us to question the universal mechanism of pareidolic self-identification.
The graphic signs of the banners are taken from details of artists’ artworks (Mike Kelley, Sigmar Polke, Robert Rauschenberg…) or refer to them (Jim Shaw, Constantin Brancusi, Unica Zürn…), cartoons (Anna Haifisch, Elzie Segar, Walt Disney…), tantric paintings, cinema (Jack Nicholson in Shining, Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn in The Hands of Orlac…), various objects (Jack Nicholson in Shining, Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn in Les mains d’Orlac…), tantric paintings, the cinema (Jack Nicholson in Shining, Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn in Les mains d’Orlac…), various objects (Maria Montessori’s permanent box, an Ikea motif, plastic legs for displaying tights…) and found images.
Anthropomorphic signs splintered onto patterned fabrics together recreate a monstrous body, its fragments scattered across the space. It is in the context of a large-scale installation that these images are best experienced, as part of the accumulation that comes with a visit to an exhibition. We might think of the billboards in J.G. Ballard’s The Atrocity Exhibition, covered in gigantic images representing fragments of Liza Minelli’s body. We can also imagine the clotheslines that could host a game of hide-and-seek or the movable walls of a travelling circus.
The exhibition produces a collage of shapes, patterns and colours from different geographical and cultural backgrounds. Like sculptures without plinths, these banners attempt to represent the diversity of the world and the leaders who think they are organising it: President·es standing on wind.
