Claudia Groeflin

Fabian Chiquet

20 Nov - 23 Dec 2009

FABIAN CHIQUET
"POP is honest and so am I"

20 November - 23 December

Claudia Groeflin Galerie is pleased to present the exhibition of the young Swiss artist Fabian Chiquet. It will be his second solo exhibition with the gallery.

Fabian Chiquet turns his attention to the subject of self-promotion in popular culture. As a member of the non-conformist Swiss pop band The bianca Story, he is exposed to this topic himself. The recent hype surrounding artists such as Lady Gaga or Chris Crocker has greatly influenced his work, thus leading to the creation of the electronic opera “Chris Crocker”: a musical featuring The bianca Story, various actors and a choir. It was performed at Kaserne Basel (9th – 12th September 2009) and at the Theatre of the Arts in Zurich (1st – 3rd October 2009).

The videos, the music and the concepts of room and performance created during this time form the basis for Fabian Chiquet’s exhibition “Pop is honest and so am I”. His drawings, text pieces and a Chris Crocker video will be presented at the Claudia Groeflin Galerie. The artist shows great interest in the predictable aspects of the pop industry, feigned spontaneity and the question of authenticity.

“The media is dependent on the rise and fall of artists. People don’t want the truth, they want stories. We musicians, actors and artists are the ones to deliver them.”
(Fabian Chiquet)

His drawings are an interpretation of subjects in the field of pop, such as the stage, music, performing and self-promotion. They depict stage performances and capture the expression of power and fame in a conscious pop aesthetic.

Fabian Chiquet, born in Basel in 1985, currently works and lives in Basel and Zurich. His work was recently exhibited at the Kunsthaus Thun, the Kunsthalle Basel and the Kunsthaus Glarus. His project “Part of the Nite Never dies” attracted a lot of attention at LISTE 09 -the Young Art Fair. Furthermore, he won the Kiefer Hablitzel prize and the Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt this year. He toured Europe with his band The bianca Story and performed at some of the biggest Swiss music festivals. The release of the UNIQUE COPY ALBUM brought the band to a wider audience.
 

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