ART CITIES:Paris-Sylvie Fleury
Born in 1961 in Geneva, where she continues to live and work, Sylvie Fleury emerged in the early 90’s as a significant figure on the international art stage. Fleury’s “shopping bag” installations, which she included in some of her earliest exhibitions, laid the foundations for a body of work that would draw on elements from both 20th Century art and consumer society.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Archive
Exploiting paradoxes and the ambiguity of futility, Fleury went on to develop a diverse oeuvre that continually expanded the range of its interpretations. Luxury clothing and accessories, the world of Formula 1 racing, modern and contemporary art icons (from Piet Mondrian to Andy Warhol or John McCracken), magazine covers, and oversized everyday objects: Sylvie Fleury has forged an artistic sensibility that continually reinvents itself, layering its meanings upon one another, and finding new ways to explore our collective consciousness. New works by Sylvie Fleury are on presentation at her solo exhibition “Palettes of Shadows”, in this new series the artist further explores the codes of femininity and masculinity and those of art and fashion in the light of contemporary consumerism. With her monumental makeup palettes, Fleury questions the structures of desire and power attached to cosmetic objects and investigates the grey areas of a pictorial genre often considered as a hybrid between painting and sculpture: the shaped canvas. A self-proclaimed feminist, her new paintings are intended as a feminist counterpoint to the paradigm defined in the exhibition organised by Lawrence Alloway at the Guggenheim Museum, New York in 1964. Entitled “The Shaped Canvas”, the exhibition featured works by the advocates (all male) of this new trend: Paul Feeley, Sven Lukin, Richard Smith, Frank Stella, Neil Williams. The minimal language, which here translates into the repetition of the same elements, the reduction of forms and the use of industrial materials, is in line with the practice initiated by her male predecessors. The different colors contained within dedicated zones of varying depth contrast sharply with the background in a manner not dissimilar to Colour Field painting. They also express a sense of duality and balance that connect them to Taoist principles. “Throughout my work and exhibitions I have used principles of Taoism as a source of inspiration, more than my personal life. […] I have often turned toward American Minimalist art because it abounds with machismo and emblems of good taste”. Since her early “Shopping Bags” installation (1991-96) of readymade sculptures, where she displaced luxury brand bags out of their original context, her interest in appropriating objects has always been a striking feature of her artistic practice. Hung on the wall like abstract paintings, the works are also a critical response to mainstream art historical narratives and a commentary on the systems of recognition and legitimacy at play within the art world itself. These new paintings fully embrace their hybrid status, between customised objects and serious art. Beautifully streamlined, their sleek, yet sensuous and at times glittery surfaces eventually engage with strategies of seduction, while leaving open the question: for what reason do we find an object attractive?
Info: Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, 7 rue Debelleyme, Paris, Duration: 27/11/18-5/1/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-19:00, www.ropac.net
