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26/2/2004

Zoom in - zoom out

Fri Art - Kunsthalle Fribourg, Fribourg

Laurence Bonvin - Josep_Maria Martin - ChristPonelle & Matthew R. Rogers

With its intimations of travel, of comings and goings, the exhibition "zoom in - zoom out" brings to light various micro and macro realities. Random events instigate chance encounters. Coincidences and resonances develop until attaining vibrant eloquence. In equilibrium between restraint and unbridled expressivity, it is in its formal language, detached from its own support, that this exhibition finds its common denominator.

Reversing a specific medium's intentions, Laurence Bonvin (Switzerland) produces night photographs that seem to light up from the inside a landscape cleared of any human presence. In their instantaneity and immediacy, these works exude a sovereign immanence appearing - paradoxically - to personify a disembodied universe. The language is plain, and it is through his manner of centering the subjects of his compositions that Bonvin links together heterogeneous worlds, spaces within which the lights are all that is left to disclose the ultimate breath of life, while the shadows could be said to flare up, to become exteriorized.

The altogether pictorial gestuality of the works by Christine Ponelle (France) and Matthew R. Rogers (USA) is underscored by music - sensuously fluid electronic music specially composed for this exhibition by Scott Powers (USA), of the "The Residents" group. The rhythms, forms and colors in this expressive painting draw strength and surfeit from a disenchanted freedom. Moreover, the fact that they block off the space enables its three-dimensional nature to better compete against the painting's support which, in this case, disposes of not only two dimensions but, also, the lost illusion of space.

Most of the works produced by Josep_Maria Martin (Spain), could be termed "social ready-mades," whereby the artist thrusts viewers into various micro-utopias created with the help of specialists. Thus, his "Dream Corner" project for street children in Mexico. Or again, a mobile trailer telephone service for the underprivileged quarters of Barcelona and various cities of Germany. When it comes to Switzerland, things become more complicated. Besides its trademark neutrality, Switzerland could be characterized as a land boasting the illusory negotiation of agreements. The "Maison des négotiations" presented at Fri-Art aims to demonstrate the flaw in a system that apparently feeds on its own paradoxes.
The term "negotiation" has come to be applied to every realm - be it economic, political, legal, social or, as here, artistic. In international politics, a peace plan is accomplished through negotiation. The idea is that "to negotiate" is to be democratic, to listen to the opposite party, to grant said party the occasion and right to speak out - but only with an eye to unfairly serving one's owns interests. "To think locally and act globally" inverts the original slogan; it has since been perpetuated and spread in the name of a repressed tradition. This in turn reveals the term's ambivalence and the gist of its popularity, given a world presently ruled by economics and subjected to ever more aggressive globalization. Negotiation has become the name of the game even in the private sphere, gradually defining the typical relationship between two persons, as if everything under the sun were negotiable. Yet, one wonders, what exactly is being negotiated? To explore the question, the artist is participating with a polymorphous contribution. On the one hand, this involves taking over a house in Fribourg's Schönberg quarter to develop various theme-connected activities to be scheduled all during the exhibition. On the other hand, a making-of documentary will be projected against Fri-Art's walls, allowing visitors to visualize the project's development.

Opening : February 27, 2004 at 7 p.m.

Opening hours : Tues.-Fri. 2-6 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 2-5 p.m., Thursday evenings 8-10 p.m.

Guided visits : March 18 and April 8 and on request

Next exhibition : DENSITÉ ±0 from May 1 to June 20, 2004

Francis Alÿs, Mark Bain, Marcel Dinahet, Ceal Floyer, Graham Gussin, Ann Veronica Janssens, Fiorenza Menini, Jiro Nakayama, Carsten Nicolai, Roman Ondák, Roman Signer, Annika Ström, Joëlle Tuerlinckx, John Wood et Paul Harrison, Work-Seth/Tallentire

FRI-ART Centre d'Art Contemporain Kunsthalle
Petites-Rames 22 Case postale 354 CH 1701
Fribourg

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