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11/6/2008

The Alliance

doArt Seoul, Seoul

Curators: Seungduk Kim and Franck Gautherot

A first step, in anything and in any country, is always the same: there’s an acceleration of the beat, of the rhythm, of speed and of blood pressure. You feel somewhat out of control, a bit distorted, outside of the familiar. You think twice. What's up there? What's going on here? You feel a bit trapped, stuck in a weird spider’s web. You're scared of the city seemingly ready to digest you. And then, peace of mind arrives and the burden you felt eases. You are freed from suspicion and ready to participate fully with your entire body.
Asia is not simple, is not a simple land of uniformity. It is an endless story which began on the doorstep of Istanbul, on the east side of the Bosphorus. It is already a different sound of melodies caught at the radio playing down there. A sort of looped tune with accents of mercy and grace. It is also the starting point for the tea « chaï », called by the same name across Asia, all the way to Japan and the end of the East. Tea ceremony.
We've been in Asia for the last ten years, for work, for fun, for friends and disappointments. Aslo, for escape and comfort.
We dare to bring together some of the best characters in today’s art scene in an eclectic mix. Within the shadow of this gathering and its shared knowledge, we set up a group of artwork.
« Many colored objects placed side by side to form a row of many colored objects » as Lawrence Weiner wrote on the top front of the Fredericianum for Documenta 7 in 1982: an alliance of colleagues, a band of brothers and sisters, a group of professionals.
If you were to draw up a list of artists to invite to Beijing and in Seoul, what rationale would determine your choices?
A group show is a pretext for curators to bring together artists at various obscure spots on the planet. In this case, the pleasure of putting an artist on a plane to China is reason enough.
The alliance is a temporary gathering of a certain number of individuals so as to complete a certain task or to secure a common interest.
Here, The Alliance is tasked with the question of form, and the sharing of ideas on how to organize forms in a plane or in a space.
In politics, the word alliance has been used by both the rightwing and the leftwing in naming their parties. It works in both ways. It is a neutral noun.

For us, and for these two exhibitions, that will circulate from Beijing to Seoul, The Alliance was a fact; a feeling of eccentricity, of an unbalanced sensation of fragility and force based on solid ground.
The figure and the story. An idea of time passing. Even non-linear stories flow, no matter how long or short they are. Figures are important because a face could look at you and talk to you. « Are you talking to me? »
Persona. Telling something; a kind of fantasy spread over a canvas. An idea for a world modelled in clay or cut in wood. The souvenirs of Courbet or Riemenschneider. The followers of Abstract Surrealists, the cousins of some shamanic bureaucrates. The history of science-fiction built out of the best of the Constructivists. The main point being a certain degree of fantasy, of fairy tales, of manliness, of merry belles, of sorry nails...

This is the story of a feeling. A feeling for « bright » instead of « gloomy », an idea of colorful and sophisticated composition, where the plans and cut-out shapes are interwoven, where characters depicted on a painted background are storytellers. When birds can leave their colors on the glossy wall they are standing close to.
The names are both famous and unknown. It is the Alliance.
An exhibition is a way to introduce the images of a new community of forms and to let them play their role under their own responsibility.
An exhibition is a matter of manipulation: temporary and soft enough to be forgotten the minute after.
Maybe the best exhibition is the one made up work from the best art fairs, according to the logic of a purely commercial and market oriented selection. Expensive works displayed together create the best exhibition.
« Many expensive objects placed side by side to form a row of many expensive objects. »

The Alliance is so-called because many of its artists are friends whose work sits comfortably together in the same room, on adjacent walls. The politics of friendship. A new way to set up relationships.
Friendship based on astrological signs: a Libra will go well with a Capricorn, and so on. The Rat complements the Dragon and Monkey, the Dog and horse and Tiger as well. They are all good together. Ox and Snake and Rooster. The Rabbit goes best with the Pig and Goat...
But does a blurred abstraction sit well beside a figurative sculpture? Such a question is too vague to provide a definitive answer.
When preparing a show imagination usually determines its shape and the arrangement. However, visual and written descriptions don’t seem to complement one another, so until we start distributing and arranging the work throughout the show space we cannot be sure how it will end up. But on the paper, however, we were able to pair people and artworks.

Opening reception: 6-8 pm Thurday June 12 2008
Opening party: a performance by Howle B & Miltos Manetas

doArt Seoul
80 Sagan-dong, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-190
Opening Hours
Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 – 6:00
Closed on every Monday

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