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22/4/2015

Peter Regli

Galerie Art:Concept, Paris

The gallery is pleased to announce the first solo show by Peter Regli in France. From April 24 to May 23, the artist (1959, Andermatt, Switzerland) presents a unique ensemble of sculptures that brings together emblematic figures and themes of his « Hackings » series.

Initiated in the 1990s, these actions or interventions exploit the sociological environment as raw material and express themselves in isolated places extending to the four corners of the earth (the geographical center of Nevada or the southernmost point of Africa), or in the street (in New York, Zurich or Genoa), the ultimate public space. Between interventionism and happening, his nearly punk approach always aims to transgress the rules whether they be legal, sociocultural or geographical. On a purely plastic level, his work often takes the form of monumental sculptures, whose dimensions go beyond human perception. As in the case of Reality Hacking No 170, an « invisible circle » made of 2,000 coins tossed into New York waters from a moving boat, marking out Manhattan Island (1999) or his artificially made island in the middle of Lake Uri Lake visible only from plane or a specific mountain-top (2002).

Applying a notion of informatics to the material and tangible world, Peter Regli takes possession of ultra-familiar images and figures to implant them into the least expected places: snowmen in countries where snow never falls (South Africa, Vietnam), a quintet of laughing Buddhas installed in the courtyard of an auditing firm building in Zurich. In both cases, these actions illustrate the lack of references to talk about the culture of the Other. Globalized flow does not necessarily go with a better understanding of belief systems. The spiritual strength of Buddhist philosophy is eagerly embraced by Western societies, and the symbolic value of the snowman is Southeast Asia remains hardly exportable. The cluster of tumid phalluses shown in the exhibition obey the same logic. In Bhutan they represent protective symbols, here they trigger a very different kind of reaction. Teddy bears, Buddhas and penis sculptures are thus gathered in the same space-and-time, where folklores collide and the opposition between the secular and the sacred implodes.

The medium itself is no less unexpected. The childlike and playful forms made of marble or untreated rock create a fantastic contrast. The use of stone, especially highlighted in this exhibition, has been a constant in his work; we can easily think to his Faked Meteorites (1996) or the stone he secretly added to the celtic circle of Vaison la Romaine (2002). Put together, placed on top of each other, marked by the artist or left raw, these stones remind us of both totemic figures and megalithic art. And if their meaning remains as enigmatic, they refer one way or another to the history of mankind and civilizations.

Image: Peter Regli, RH 316, 2014, marble, 20 x 30 x 45 cm, 7 7/8 x 11 3/4 x 17 3/4 in. Photo : Peter Regli. Courtesy Art : Concept, Paris

Press Contact:
Julia Mossé // communication@galerieartconcept.com

Galerie Art: Concept
13 rue des Arquebusiers
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