The Sirens' Stage
dal 17/3/2010 al 23/4/2010
Segnalato da
17/3/2010
The Sirens' Stage
David Roberts Art Foundation Fitzrovia, London
An exhibition by Etienne Chambaud in collaboration with critic Vincent Normand. A collection of narrative fragments, playing with accumulations and disappearances, survivals and hauntings. From inscription to oral tradition, it is constructed on its own echoes, misunderstandings, partial interpretations and incomplete memories. The show is developed by the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, Kadist Art Foundation in Paris and Nomas Foundation in Rome; interpreted in a different language almost simultaneously at each foundation.
The exhibition is curated in London by Vincent Honoré, Artistic Director and Gaia Tedone, Assistant Curator, David Roberts Art Foundation, London.
The David Roberts Art Foundation is pleased to present The Sirens’ Stage, an exhibition
by Etienne Chambaud in the framework of Vincent Normand’s project Permanent
Exhibition, Temporary Collections.
The Sirens’ Stage is developed by the David Roberts Art Foundation in London, Kadist
Art Foundation in Paris and Nomas Foundation in Rome. The exhibition, interpreted in a
different language almost simultaneously at each foundation, is based on mechanisms of
writing and transcription. Translation should be considered both the medium and the
shared language of the whole project.
The project takes its title from the mythological sirens’ song, which reinvents itself in the
ear of its addressee. Here The Sirens’ Stage is conceived as a group of “written objects”:
absent but described, motionless but translated, unique but repeated, mute but
transcribed.
The Sirens’ Stage is made up of an installation of figures, a group of named, empty
plinths (The Reef), which acts as a space from which are emitted layers of speech and text.
Actors will occasionally interact with this space, reading, memorising and rehearsing
fragments of script and dialogue. Sometimes The Reef will remain silent. A group of
framed Instruction Pieces hung on the wall will outline a series of gestures and acts.
These will change over the course of the exhibition. A writer (The Copyist), present at all
times, will transcribe the evolution of the exhibition day after day. The Foundation’s
collection will be included through a series of photographs of its storage, in which all
crates will be named (Stock Figures). A key element of this exhibition’s concept is a
written contract, drawn up by a lawyer, which outlines the conditions for the exchange
and the conservation of copies of sculptures exchanged between the three foundations’
collections (The Exchange (The Horse, the Cobblestone, Above the Weather)).
The exhibition is a collection of narrative fragments, playing with accumulations and
disappearances, survivals and hauntings. From inscription to oral tradition, polyphony to
cacophony, The Sirens’ Stage explores its own remains and is constructed on its own
echoes, misunderstandings, partial interpretations and incomplete memories.
Etienne Chambaud (born France, 1980) lives and works in Paris. This is his first
exhibition in London. Recent solo exhibitions include: The Certificates (with Nina Beier),
CroyNielsen, Berlin (2010); Mais où est donc Ornicar, Espace Blank (curated by
Christine Macel), Paris (2009); Color Suite, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2009). Recent group
exhibitions include: The Store, Artissima, Turin (curated by Adam Carr) (2009); Un
Nouveau Festival!, Centre George Pompidou, Paris (curated by Bernard Blistène) (2009);
Fax, The Drawing Center, New York (2009) and Torrance Art Museum, CA (2010), From
a Distance, Wallspace Gallery, New York (curated by Vincent Honoré) (2007), 00s The
history of a decade that has not yet been named , Lyon Biennial of Contemporary Art
(curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Stéphanie Moisdon) (2007).
Etienne Chambaud is represented by Labor, Mexico City
Vincent Normand (born France, 1985) is a writer and curator based in Paris and
Lausanne. Co-editor of the magazine Criticism, his texts are published in various
collective publications, and he contributes to magazines such as Kaleidoscope, May or
Frog. He is actually initiating Permanent Exhibition, Temporary Collections, a
theoretical itinerant structure that inaugurates its program with his collaboration with
Etienne Chambaud on the occasion of The Sirens’ Stage.
Supported in London by The French Institute, London and CULTURESFRANCE.
David Roberts Art Foundation: London, March 19 - April 24, 2010
Kadist Art Foundation: Paris, April 3 – May 2, 2010
Opening on 02.04.2010
Nomas Foundation: Rome, April 15 - May 14, 2010
Opening on 15.04.2010
About The David Roberts Art Foundation Limited
Founded by patron David Roberts and directed by Vincent Honoré, The David Roberts
Art Foundation Limited is a non for profit charitable Foundation dedicated to supporting
contemporary art through a programme of exhibitions and collaborations with
International artists and independent curators. Through its activities, the Foundation
encourages exchanges and act as a critical platform for artistic dialogues, aiming to
question and challenge the structures of production, presentation and reception of
artworks.
About Kadist Art Foundation, Paris
Kadist is a private foundation initiated in 2001, which opened a space in Paris in October
2006. Through the constitution of an art collection, a residency and an exhibition
programme, Kadist’s intention is to be actively involved in the creation, development and
presentation of artistic projects. Kadist aims at supporting experimental thinking while
contributing to an international discourse, with a constant revision and questioning about
the role and practices of the institution. The collection is the seminal point of involvement
with artists that can thereafter expand to a residency and exhibition project.
The collection, residencies and gallery space are conceived as a chain of production that
allows Kadist to work closely and on a long-term basis with artists, curators and others art
makers.
http://www.kadist.org
About Nomas Foundation, Rome
Founded in 2008 by Stefano and Raffaella Sciarretta and stemming from the personal
experience of a collection, Nomas Foundation is a mobile, flexible organism that aims at
supporting and promoting contemporary research in art. The programme concentrates on
critical art practices that explore and challenge different modes of presentation. Through
exhibitions, events, commissions and publications Nomas fosters collaboration and
dialogue with other subjects, places and institutions and seeks to promote research,
education and cultural exchange. The programme is curated by Cecilia Canziani and Ilaria
Gianni, Orsola Mileti is in charge of the collection.
http://www.nomasfoundation.com
Image: Etienne Chambaud, 'The Blind Song', 2010. Spray paint on wall, variable dimensions
For press information please contact:
Chloe Kinsman at JBPelhamPR Tel: 020 8969 3959 Email: chloe@jbpelhampr.com
Opening reception: 18.03.2010, from 7 pm
David Roberts Art Foundation Fitzrovia
111 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 6RY
Especially for this exhibition, opening times change: Wednesday –Saturday, 2 - 7 pm