Jean-Michel Othoniel

Jean-Michel
Othoniel
Jean-Michel OTHONIEL
JANUS’
KNOTS
10 Impasse St Claude:
octobre 2009 - janvier 2010
Sculptures, works on paper
10 Impasse Saint-Claude : October 22 - December 23, 2009
artist whoEmmanuel
has a passion
for all sorts
of metamorphoses,
sublimations
and transmutations,
Jean-Michel
Othoniel
a predilection
for
TheAn Galerie
Perrotin
presents
JANUS’ KNOTS
by Jean-Michel
Othoniel,
a collection
of has
works
never shown
before,
materials
with
properties.
Othoniel first gained recognition with a series of sculptures made of sulfur, exhibited at Documenta IX in
from
October
22reversible
to December
31, 2009.
Kassel in 1992. In 1993, Jean-Michel Othoniel introduced glass into his work and began to explore its properties. Transformations, mutations
After
sulfur,
1993 Othoniel
discovered
ancestral
art ofthat
glass
its metamorphoses
in artist
Murano.
of exploring
materials, the
and transformative
rites of passagequalities
from oneofstate
to in
another
echo an essential
rite the
in the
artist’s work:
of and
journeys
and memory. The
has progressively built up a world based on ultimate freedom and the acceptance of the reversible, a world characterizing his personality. His
Since then, he has been creating a world of poetic and baroque (a term that originally referred to an irregularly shaped bead) works. Like the vanitas, or
work takes on a variety of forms: drawings, sculptures, photographs, narratives, choreography and video. His streamlined works are steeped
the decor of antique sepulchers, the shimmering colors and materials of the necklaces, crowns, mandorlas and outsized baldachin beds of shimmering
in poetry and eroticism.
colors and materials illustrate the presence/absence of beings.
Othoniel seized on glass as if it were an abandoned, undeveloped plot containing a conceptual treasure. The characteristic of this material is
is appears
on the end
of theaspects,
spectrumhis
of art
scales,
from aminiature
to monumental.
Today,
as in(the
the Collier
past, manipulation
scaleFNAC
is one collection;
of the
Yetthat
beyond
the appealing,
formal
displays
fragile beauty
of tangible
wounds
Cicatrice inof
1997,
in 2003,
fundamental
operations
work depicts
in artisticthe
creation.
By of
enlarging
reducing,
by altering
the interplay
of sizes
formats,
theNew
world
of art Museum of
necklaces
suspended
fromattrees
lynching
African and
Americans
during
segregation:
L’Arbre
aux and
Colliers
in the
Orleans
incorporates
one of the
production
methods
for the
extraordinary.
It is
a time
as the
human
life boat
is itself
characterized by the
Modern
Art; Le Bateau
de great
Larmes
topped with
a crown,
exhibited
in Basel
in also
2005,
was machine,
a tribute to
Cuban
people).
growth of an individual’s body. If glass as a material has a particular shape, it is certainly the sphere, expressed in multiple ways: the ball, the
Thebead,
ambiguity
of the
works
also resides
in in
the
equivocal
nature
of Baroque
glass, a sacred
thatthe
refracts
divine light, as
a church,
the drop.
Asartist’s
soon as
we speak
of beads
art,
the origins
of the
estheticmaterial
appear on
horizon—because
theinterm
barocoas well as the
profane
aspect,
as a symbol
of the
transparency
of desire
(feelings
initially
designated
a bead with
irregular
and subtly
irrational
shapesmost fully developed in the Crystal Palace installations at the Fondation Cartier, the
MOCA in Miami in 2003-04, or L’herbier merveilleux at the Chapelle du Méjean in 2008).
Othoniel is now working to move beyond the hieratic character of his works, and to depict or capture movement while moving toward greater abstraction.
par question
goût des métamorphoses,
sublimations
transmutations,
aux propriétésof
réversibles,
Jean-Michel
se
He Privilégiant,
examines “the
of the absent body.
It is aboutetcreating
volumesles
of matériaux
absence, constructions
variable sizes
in whichOthoniel
bodies could
curl up.”
fait d’abord remarquer par ses sculptures en soufre exposées à la Documenta de Cassel en 1992. C’est à partir de 1993 que Jean-Michel
At the
entrance
to the
suspension
of aexpérimente
few black and
silver beads
spins endlessly.mutations de la matière et rites de passages
Othoniel
introduit
le exhibition,
verre dans ason
travail et en
les propriétés
; transformations,
d’un
état
à
un
autre
font
écho
à
un
autre
rite
fondamental
dans
l’oeuvre
de
l’artiste,
celui dutheory
voyage
duBorromean
souvenir. L’artiste
a progressivement
The suspended sculpture Les Noeuds de Lacan, 2009 materialized the psychoanalytic
ofetthe
rings that
structures a subject with a
inventé
un monde
de liberté
ultimeSymbolic
et d’acceptation
du réversible qui caractérise sa personnalité. Sa création est multiple : dessins, sculptufragile
equilibrium
between
Reality,
and Imaginary.
res, photographies, écrits, chorégraphies ou vidéos. Autant d’oeuvres épurées chargées de poésie et d’érotisme.
TheJean-Michel
complex circumvolutions
of the two-tone
inspired by
minimal
artdélaissée
and the concetto
spaziale,unespecially
by Fontana’s
work Spatial Light
Othoniel s’est emparé
du verre Lassos
comme are
on s’empare
d’une
jachère
pour y découvrir
trésor conceptuel.
Le propre
(1951).
de ce matériau, c’est d’apparaître aux extrémités du spectre des échelles, de la miniature au monument. En agrandissant et en réduisant, en
le jeuplaced
des tailles
des formats,
le monde
de l’art
utilise
l’un des grands
production
du of
fantastique.
Si le matériau-verre
Lesperturbant
Lacets bleus,
on aetbase
rather than
suspended
like
the necklaces,
falls leviers
into thedesame
category
works as Rivière
blanche, created in 2004
possède une forme privilégie, c’est bien la sphère, déclinée sur plusieurs modes : la boule, la bille, la perle, la goutte. Dès que l’on parle de
for the Mesopotamian rooms in the Louvre—a work purchased by the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris/ARC—and Peggy’s Necklace, exhibited
perle, en art, les racines de l’esthétique baroque apparaissent à l’horizon. Car le terme baroco, à l’origine, servait à désigner une perle aux
at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in 2006.
contours irréguliers et subtilement irrationnels.
The series of works on papers—created with the Michael Woodworth studio in Paris—introduces “the idea of movement, of actual rebounds, of ricochets, of imaginary desires and the bound heart.”
As part of the exhibition, Éditions Dilecta and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin have published an artist’s book, Les Nœuds de Janus. Othoniel designed this
work as a pop-up book; the animated watercolors are actual models for future sculptures.
The beads
seem
to follow
the trajectory
of lives
an imaginary ribbon
Jean-Michel
Othoniel
was born
in Saint-Étienne
in 1964. He
tossed in the air. 24-page hardback book with 10 watercolors. Price: €45. Limited edition:
20 copies
and works
in Paris. with 10 artist’s proofs: €450.
Solo exhibitions : Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo;
"Monaco Project For The Arts", Monaco, Galerie Karsten Grève
Saint-Moritz, Switzerland; "L'Herbier Merveilleux", Chapelle
Saint-Martin du Méjan, Arles; "Secret Americana" Sikkema Jenkins
& Co.,
New York;
“Peggy's
Necklace” Peggy Guggenheim Collection,
Solo Exhibitions: Brooklyn Museum, New York (2012); Hara Museum, Japan (2011); V&A Museum, Londres (2011); Centre
Pomipdou
(2011);
Monaco
Venice; “Dessins”
Galerie
Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris; Le Petit Théâtre
projects for the arts; Galerie Karsten Grève, Cologne; Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; Peggy’s Necklace Peggy Guggenheim
Collection,
Venice;
de PeauMiami;
d’Ane,Crystal
ThéâtrePalace,
du Chatelet, Paris; House of Glass, MOCA,
Dessins Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris; Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Ane, Théâtre du Chatelet, Paris; House of Glass, MOCA,
Miami; Crystal
Fondation
Fondation Cartier, Paris; Lagrimas, Museo del Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico; Collier, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle, Belgium;
Parade,Palace,
Newcomb
Art Cartier, Paris; Lagrimas, Museo del
Gallery, New Orleans; Le Kiosque des Noctambules - Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Vidrio, Monterrey, Mexico; Collier, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens,
Group Exhibitions: Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d’Âne, Dolmabahçe Palace, Istanbul; Quintette, French Institute, Ankara; The
Museum
of Glass,
Seattle;
Deurle,
Belgium;
Parade,
Newcomb Art Gallery, New Orleans; Le
Dialogues Méditerranéens, Musée de L’Annonciade, St Tropez; Peggy’s Necklace, Nuit Blanche 2006, Crédit Municipal; La
Force de
l’Art,
Grand Palais,
Kiosque
des
Noctambules
(permanent installation at the Palais
Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris; Fragile, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims,
France;
Musée
du Louvre,
Royal
- Musée
du Louvre),
Paris.
Paris; Heart of Glass, Queens Museum of Art, New York; Heaven, Tate Liverpool, United Kingdom; Kwangju Biennial, South
G r oKorea.
u p e x h i b i t i o n s : " S o n s b e e k 2 0 0 8 : Gextract
r a n d eofu the
r " , Abook
r h n eLes
m , nœuds de Janus, 2009
N e t h e r l a n d s ; " Th e S e c r e t L i fe o f O b j e c t s " , G u g g e n h e i m ,
Bilbao; "Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d'Âne", Dolmabahçe Palace,
Istanbul; "Quintette", French Institute, Ankara; The Museum
o f G l a s s, S e a t t l e ; " D i a l o g u e s M é d i t e r r a n é e n s " , M u s é e d e
L'Annonciade, St Tropez; "Peggy's Neck lace", Nuit Blanche
2006, Crédit Municipal; "La Force de l'Art", Grand Palais, Paris;
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; Galerie Emmanuel
Pe r r o t i n , Pa r i s ; Fr a g i l e, M u s é e d e s B e a u x - A r t s d e R e i m s ;
Contrepoint (contemporary artists at the Louvre), Musée du
Louvre, Paris; Heart of Glass, Queens Museum of Art, New York;
Heaven, Tate Liverpool, United Kingdom; Kwangju Biennial,
South Korea.
Jean-Michel Othoniel is born in Saint-Étienne in 1964. He works and lives in Paris.
Pour toute demande d' i nformation, merci de contacter / For any additional information, please contact :
Peggy Leboeuf : [email protected] : +33 1 78 94 01 40
Pink Lasso, 2008
Murano glass
9.6 feet x 56 inches x 25 1/4 inches
Untitled, 2009
Lithographic print on white gold leaf mounted on vélin de
Rives.
43 1/4 x 31 inches
Blue Lasso, 2008
Murano glass
51 1/4 x 55 1/4 x 15 3/4 inches
Les Lacets Bleus, 2009
Mirrored glass, mirror polished inox
8.2 feet x 70 3/4 inches x 55 1/4 inches
For all images : Copyright Ohoniel/Adagp, Paris, 2009 & Courtesy Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris
For any additional information, please contact : Héloïse Le Carvennec [email protected] T. + 33 1 42 16 91 80