The First Night of the World. The exhibition presents her recent work, mingling reverie and deep reflection. Bringing together some thirty paintings, it includes several large triptychs from a series the artist has titled Theatres.
Curators: Joëlle Pijaudier-Cabot, director, Museums of Strasbourg and Estelle Pietrzyk, director, MAMCS
from 26 November 2015 to 27 March 2016
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (
MAMCS)
The First Night of the World
is the Franco
-
Swiss artist's
first exhibition in France since 2009.
Held at the Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemp
orary Art (MAMCS), it brings together
Valérie Favre's most recent paintings and an impres
sive collection of over 200 drawings
inspired by a reading of Maurice Blanch
ot's novel
Thomas the Obscure.
Covering an area of some 600 m2
, this exhibition by an artist whose work has rarely been seen
in France introduces her recent work, mingling reverie and deep reflection.
In choosing "The First Night of the World" as the t
itle for this important exhibition being held by
the MAMCS, Valérie Favre (born 1959 in Bienne, Swi
tzerland) has borrowed a phrase from
Maurice Blanchot's
Thomas the Obscure
to describe a project owing as much to literature
as to
the theatre. Fascinated by this strange narrative,
the artist has painstakingly undertaken to
produce her own handmade copy of the book, illustra
ting it with ink drawings. With an exhibition
layout designed by the artist herself, the resultin
g two hundred or so drawings combine to create
an environment which shapes the core of the exhibition.
Bringing together some thirty paintings – all made
in Berlin, where Favre lives and teaches at
the prestigious
Universität der Künste
– the exhibition includes several large triptychs
from a
series the artist has titled
Théâtres. These large-format paintings are equally impress
ive in their
monumental proportions and the amazing scenes they
depict. In a sombre but by no means
humourless vein,
Théâtres
' bizarre parades or ships of fools conjure up a vi
sion of the world's
folly.
Working in series –
Robes rouges
(
Red Dresses
), the
Lapines Univers
(
Universe Bunny Women
)
or
Suicides
are among the topics on which she has already comp
osed numerous variations –
Valérie Favre also presents several paintings that
further cycles already in progress. These
include
Fragments
, close to Victor Hugo's ink drawings but with an u
nexpected development and
conclusion,
Ghosts
, inspired by Goya's
Flight of the Witches
, and the latest addition to
Balls and
Tunnels
, an ode in praise of serendipity. The exhibition e
nds with a series of ink drawings where
references to art history, literature and the conte
mporary world meet in a froth of lines and
collages.
To mark this event a trilingual catalogue, including contributions by Heike Fuhlbrügge, Daniel
Payot and Corine Pencenat and an interview between
the artist and the exhibition curators, has
been published.
Image: Ghost (nach Goyas Flug der Hexen), 2014, Oil on canvas, 43,5 x 31 cm, Courtesy the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm
Press Contact:
Julie Barth – 03 68 98 74 78 – julie.barth@strasbourg.eu
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS)
1, place Hans-Jean-Arp
Opening times:
Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Closed on Mondays
Tickets:
7 euros / 3,5 euros (reduced)