ART CITIES:Paris-Bertrand Lavier

Bertrand Lavier, Merci Raymond, 2016 Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de ParisAlong the course of what he calls his “Chantiers”, series of works based on rules which are both simple and open, Bertrand Lavier builds a body of work which invites visitors to shed their certainties. Playing with categories, codes, genres and materials, his art conveys an inclination for addition, crossing, hybridization and transposition.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Monnaie de Paris Archive

Following the idea of always reinventing new forms of exhibition, Bertrand Lavier has designed a project at the heart of Monnaie de Paris. ”Merci Raymond” is more than an exhibition, the works are stories, anecdotes, and presentations that the artist has staged in the rooms of Monnaie de Paris that create connections and unexpected confrontations with the works of Raymond Hains. Born in 1949 in Burgundy, Bertrand Lavier produced his first works in 1969, influenced by Land Art and Conceptual Art. In the early ’80s, he quickly asserted himself as one of the major figures on the European art scene, through various series including his “Painted objects”, “superimposed objects” and “Walt Disney Productions”. These series confirm his aptitude to shake up the most solid categories in the history of art. In later works (crashed car, African statues, neon tubes made after paintings by American artist Frank Stella), he continued his endeavour to short-circuit identities and confirmed his capacity to present a concept while preserving the right to give it shape and emotion. Raymond Hains is widely regarded as one of the most important French artists of the second half of the 20th Century. Along the experimental work on photography and film that he first developed in the 40’s and 50’s, Hains is well-known for his “Affiches lacérées”, from 1949, with Jacques Villeglé started to use found torn posters from the streets in creating hypergraphics and ready-made “paintings”. This neo-Dadaist spirit would inform the rest of his career. Associated with the Nouveau Réalisme, Raymond Hains opened the way to a singular vision of art, he initiated a vocabulary based on literature, philosophy and esotericism, towards linguistic speculations. The 12 exhibition rooms at Monnaie de Paris play host to masterpieces by these two artists who establish analogies between the words, names and images, all while adding an extra twist. Twelve winks from Bertrand Lavier to present the works of Raymond Hains in a face to face juxtaposition and dialogues, provoking and playing with his own work, as a conversation between friends. With the production of new works and revisiting his emblematic pieces, Bertrand Lavier plays with the visual and verbal connections that can be established between his projects and those of Raymond Hains, illuminating his friend’s works while sharing his sense of humour.

Info: Curator: Chiara Parisi, Monnaie de Paris, 11 Quai de Conti, Paris, Duration: 27/5-17/7/16, Days & Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri-Sun 11:00-19:00, Thu 11:00-22:00, www.monnaiedeparis.fr

Bertrand Lavier, Objet Oard, 2003-16Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Bertrand Lavier, Objet Oard, 2003-16Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris

 

 

Bertrand Lavier, Merci Raymond, 2016, Bertrand Lavier, Dolly, 1993, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Bertrand Lavier, Merci Raymond, 2016, Bertrand Lavier, Dolly, 1993, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris

 

 

Left: Bertrand Lavier, Objet Oard, 2003-2016, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris. Right: Bertrand Lavier, Dolly, 1993 Collection Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Left: Bertrand Lavier, Objet Oard, 2003-2016, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris. Right: Bertrand Lavier, Dolly, 1993 Collection Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris

 

 

Bertrand Lavier, Gravure d'apres Fiorenza Faorzi, 2016 Collection de !'artiste , Bertrand Lavier, 0, 2016 Production Monnaie de Paris, Olivier Mosset, Sans titre, 1966 -72, Collection Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, Raymond Hains, Grand Drapeau, 2003, Collection Frac Bretagne, Bertrand Lavier, Gravure d'apres Raymond de La Neziere, 2016, Collection of the artist , Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Bertrand Lavier, Gravure d’apres Fiorenza Faorzi, 2016 Collection de !’artiste , Bertrand Lavier, 0, 2016 Production Monnaie de Paris, Olivier Mosset, Sans titre, 1966 -72, Collection Frac Nord-Pas de Calais, Raymond Hains, Grand Drapeau, 2003, Collection Frac Bretagne, Bertrand Lavier, Gravure d’apres Raymond de La Neziere, 2016, Collection of the artist , Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris

 

 

Raymond Hains, Palissade, 1976, Collection Frac Bourgogne, Bertrand Lavier, Me/ker 6, 2005, Courtesy Galerie Hufkens, Bruxelles, Bertrand Lavier, Jaune soleil par Astral & Valentine, 1985, Collection Jean Brolly-Paris, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Raymond Hains, Palissade, 1976, Collection Frac Bourgogne, Bertrand Lavier, Me/ker 6, 2005, Courtesy Galerie Hufkens, Bruxelles, Bertrand Lavier, Jaune soleil par Astral & Valentine, 1985, Collection Jean Brolly-Paris, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris

 

 

Raymond Hains, Sans Titre (Serie Dauphin), 1990, Collection Estate Raymond Hains. Courtesy Galerie Max Hetzler-Paris, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris
Raymond Hains, Sans Titre (Serie Dauphin), 1990, Collection Estate Raymond Hains. Courtesy Galerie Max Hetzler-Paris, Photo: Andre Morin, Courtesy Monnaie de Paris