Jean-Michel Othoniel
dal 6/11/2008 al 9/1/2009
Segnalato da
6/11/2008
Jean-Michel Othoniel
Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris
In this show the artist will be creating a surreal scenery of sculptures and monumental colliers partly in front of reflecting walls, leaving a mark of lightness in spite of his weight of several hundred kilos of one single peace. The foyer of the exhibition is dominated by a huge installation, vaguely reminding of a bouncing ball hovering in the air.
Galerie Karsten Greve is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition dedicated to the French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel which will be on view from the 7th of November 2008 until the 10th of January 2009. It is the first time that works by Jean-Michel Othoniel are presented in a solo show at Galerie Karsten Greve Cologne.
Since 1990 Jean-Michel Othoniel’s spectacular glass sculptures have earned him international acclaim. His oversized sculptures – made from murano glass – are being composed to magnificent installations which even have decorated whole house facades or public places.
In his show at Galerie Karsten Greve Jean-Michel Othoniel will be creating a surreal scenery of sculptures and monumental colliers partly in front of reflecting walls, leaving a mark of lightness in spite of his weight of several hundred kilos of one single peace. The foyer of the exhibition is dominated by a huge installation, vaguely reminding of a bouncing ball hovering in the air. Several blue, green and transparent beads are bound on an almost invisible wire rope, dancing seemingly agravic in front of the viewer. The scenery gets additionally appealing as the beads heavily reflect the illumination. Glass, as a material, has a very ambivalent impact on the viewer: it is not only beautiful and seductive but it is also a very cold, massive and heavy material. Nevertheless, the impression of beauty and magic, predominant to the viewer, is the key for opening the dialogue between artist and viewer. So after entering the world of the artist and his art, the viewer begins to realize the many different meanings and associations linked with his work, beginning with erotic associations over suggestions of precious material ending up with confusion about the disproportionate formats.
Despite of his affinity towards glass, which he prefers working with since 1993, Othoniel is definitely not a glass artist. Instead he is describing himself as a “director of an opera” in which talented people help him to make interpretations from his drawings, which predate the installations. Especially the direct collaboration with the murano glass blowers is vitally important for him. He usually intervenes actively during their work, as only then he can get the “ideal” form. Othoniel states, that working with the glass blowers takes a lot of concentration, because he needs to stop them at the right moment or to push them towards the ideal form.
Born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne, Jean-Michel Othoniel has been lodger of the French Academy at Villa Medici in Rome (1995-96). He participated in great exhibitions of contemporary art such as documenta IX in 1992, Féminin/Masculin at Centre Georges Pompidou in 1994, Heaven at the Tate Gallery in Liverpool and the Kwangju Biennal in Korea in 2000. He did also one man exhibitions such as his show at The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in 1997 and at PS1 in New York in 1998. One of his most famous masterpieces made in glass is "Le Kiosque des Noctambules", an installation at the entrance of the metro station Palais Royal Musée du Louvre in Paris, realised in 2000 for celebrating the centenary of the Parisian subway. He also worked for the Fondation Cartier in Paris creating the installation “Crystal Palace”, which mixes architecture, sculpture, glass and light. The result is a magnificent fairy tale where glass plays the key role. Jean-Michel Othoniel lives and works in Paris.
Karsten Greve Gallery
5, rue Debelleyme - Paris
Free admission