Xavier Veilhan
31 Mar - 08 May 2011
XAVIER VEILHAN
31 March - 8 May, 2011
Andréhn-Schiptjenko proudly announces Dark Matter, Xavier Veilhan’s sixth solo-exhibition at the gallery. The opening takes place in the presence of the artist on Thursday March 31 between 5–8 pm. Veilhan, represented by Andréhn-Schiptjenko since 1993, is arguably France’s most distinguished contemporary artist. His most important exhibition to date is at the Chateau de Versailles in 2009 (after Jeff Koons in 2008 and before Takashi Murakami in 2010), when he invested not only the castle itself but also the extensive gardens with new and site-specific works.
Dark Matter is the name for the estimated and invisible huge amount of matter that makes up the major part of matter in galaxies. As the galaxies are the largest structures in the world it follows that most of the matter in the entire universe is invisible and unknown to us. Ongoing research attempts to discover exactly what this dark matter is, how much there is, and what effect it may have on the universe as a whole.
Dark Matter presents entirely new works consistent with Veilhan’s œuvre all made specifically for the exhibition. Concerned with the scenography of a dedicated presentation, Veilhan addresses issues of perception as well as the physical and temporal relationships created within the context of the exhibition format.
The exhibition is based on five different bodies of work that will coexist in a dark ambiance: carbon, metal, wood, paint, all dark, deep blue and black like in a painting by Ad Reinhardt. The technical white is the white of laboratories and NASA, the technical black the one from cameras and luxury cars. The use of the black is as much a technical choice as an evocation. The exhibition is conceived as a reduction of elements from reality, from body to cosmos, from balance to inertia. Carbon draws a line between a universal basic element (C) and its high tech form as it appears in the Mobile and the two David statues.
Xavier Veilhan was most recently shown in a solopresentation at The Armory Show, New York and is currently on view in the solo-exhibition Free Fall, inaugural exhibition of Space Louis Vuitton, Tokyo as well as in the groupshow Chefs d ́oeuvre?, Centre Pompidou, Metz, until May 2011. Upcoming solo-exhibitions include a survey-show at the Mücsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary.
31 March - 8 May, 2011
Andréhn-Schiptjenko proudly announces Dark Matter, Xavier Veilhan’s sixth solo-exhibition at the gallery. The opening takes place in the presence of the artist on Thursday March 31 between 5–8 pm. Veilhan, represented by Andréhn-Schiptjenko since 1993, is arguably France’s most distinguished contemporary artist. His most important exhibition to date is at the Chateau de Versailles in 2009 (after Jeff Koons in 2008 and before Takashi Murakami in 2010), when he invested not only the castle itself but also the extensive gardens with new and site-specific works.
Dark Matter is the name for the estimated and invisible huge amount of matter that makes up the major part of matter in galaxies. As the galaxies are the largest structures in the world it follows that most of the matter in the entire universe is invisible and unknown to us. Ongoing research attempts to discover exactly what this dark matter is, how much there is, and what effect it may have on the universe as a whole.
Dark Matter presents entirely new works consistent with Veilhan’s œuvre all made specifically for the exhibition. Concerned with the scenography of a dedicated presentation, Veilhan addresses issues of perception as well as the physical and temporal relationships created within the context of the exhibition format.
The exhibition is based on five different bodies of work that will coexist in a dark ambiance: carbon, metal, wood, paint, all dark, deep blue and black like in a painting by Ad Reinhardt. The technical white is the white of laboratories and NASA, the technical black the one from cameras and luxury cars. The use of the black is as much a technical choice as an evocation. The exhibition is conceived as a reduction of elements from reality, from body to cosmos, from balance to inertia. Carbon draws a line between a universal basic element (C) and its high tech form as it appears in the Mobile and the two David statues.
Xavier Veilhan was most recently shown in a solopresentation at The Armory Show, New York and is currently on view in the solo-exhibition Free Fall, inaugural exhibition of Space Louis Vuitton, Tokyo as well as in the groupshow Chefs d ́oeuvre?, Centre Pompidou, Metz, until May 2011. Upcoming solo-exhibitions include a survey-show at the Mücsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary.