Jean-Michel Othoniel
02 Mar - 04 Jul 2011
JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL
My Way
2 March - 4 July, 2011
The Centre Pompidou is dedicating an exhibition to Jean-Michel Othoniel, who is retracing his career from 1987 to the present. Titled My Way, this retrospective journey presents a set of eighty entirely new works. A journey marked by stages, research and experiments during which the artist explores the boundary between the organic world and the natural world and questions the limits of the genre. Then, with the discovery of glass, its colour, and its infinite possibilities in plastic art, mixing strength and vulnerability, the work of Jean-Michel Othoniel finds a new monumentality, setting into movement. All of this is spread across the two exhibition spaces located within the French national museum of modern art – the Gallery of the Museum and the Graphic art gallery-, coming together especially for the occasion. Interview with the artist. CATHERINE GRENIER – « My Way » is a reference to the song by Frank Sinatra. Does the song title also evoke nostalgia for your career? This exhibition has a retrospective angle made up of lost bread crumbs that you seem always to have followed to find your 'path'? JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL – « My Way » is not a cover version of a classic. The song evokes instead a more solitary, individual path for me. – a path which is mine in part, while also amidst various movements in contemporary art that I have passed through over the last 20 years. In addition, « My Way », is a title that can easily be understood in countries where the exhibition will be held, that might be called a 'mid-career retrospective'. It is also a way of playing down this overview and making it less mummified, creating instead a constructive step forward. The exhibition is made up of 12 distinct spaces which are like mini one-man shows in themselves and map out my career; more than 80 works will be on show. CG – After wax and sulphur, glass and aluminium, it seems that your direction is dictated by coming across new materials, or predilections for certain media? JMO – Materials are one of the keys to understanding my works, it is the visible tip of the iceberg. The links between the senses are also made with words, text, obsessions, what is between the lines, encounters, loss...This retrospective actually shows the complexity of these references that make up the different layers of my life. In the book that accompanies the exhibition, your text follows this development over the last 25 years and reveals the different stages in my work. CG – The exhibition shows a progression from the intimate to the monumental, from the body and inner space towards the exterior. Why this shift? JMO – Walking through the retrospective, I have come to realize that my works function like self-portraits. They are practically autistic in the early 80s, like surrogates. Now that today I have come to terms with my life, the works reinforce this unveiling and new conquest of happiness, they are more autonomous and free now. CG – Your last works are the blueprint for a new direction, do they mark a turning point in your creative career? JMO – I wanted to complete the twelve exhibitions that represented my retrospective in the Galeries du Musée with a new exhibition. The last room shows all the largest and most spectacular new works. The discovery of metaphor and psychoanalysis gave rise to more abstract sculptures which are as complex as clock mechanisms. They move in space and present dynamic, enveloping shapes. CG – An exhibition / workshop is running alongside the exhibition in the Galerie des enfants. What made you choose particular works for the space and how are you going to bring the creative process alive for children? JMO – Le reel merveilleux [Marvellous Reality], is an exhibition / workshop which presents monumental works to children, Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d'Âne [The Little Donkey-skin Theatre] and The Precious Stonewall. The first one is a range of maquettes lived in by puppets created by the writer Pierre Loti 150 years ago. They demonstrate the work of a child, protected by my large 'glass menagerie'. There will also be an introduction to watercolour techniques with The Precious Stonewall – which I made in India last year during my time with Indian glass-makers – who will offer an opportunity to those participating in the workshop to collaborate with children from the village of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.
My Way
2 March - 4 July, 2011
The Centre Pompidou is dedicating an exhibition to Jean-Michel Othoniel, who is retracing his career from 1987 to the present. Titled My Way, this retrospective journey presents a set of eighty entirely new works. A journey marked by stages, research and experiments during which the artist explores the boundary between the organic world and the natural world and questions the limits of the genre. Then, with the discovery of glass, its colour, and its infinite possibilities in plastic art, mixing strength and vulnerability, the work of Jean-Michel Othoniel finds a new monumentality, setting into movement. All of this is spread across the two exhibition spaces located within the French national museum of modern art – the Gallery of the Museum and the Graphic art gallery-, coming together especially for the occasion. Interview with the artist. CATHERINE GRENIER – « My Way » is a reference to the song by Frank Sinatra. Does the song title also evoke nostalgia for your career? This exhibition has a retrospective angle made up of lost bread crumbs that you seem always to have followed to find your 'path'? JEAN-MICHEL OTHONIEL – « My Way » is not a cover version of a classic. The song evokes instead a more solitary, individual path for me. – a path which is mine in part, while also amidst various movements in contemporary art that I have passed through over the last 20 years. In addition, « My Way », is a title that can easily be understood in countries where the exhibition will be held, that might be called a 'mid-career retrospective'. It is also a way of playing down this overview and making it less mummified, creating instead a constructive step forward. The exhibition is made up of 12 distinct spaces which are like mini one-man shows in themselves and map out my career; more than 80 works will be on show. CG – After wax and sulphur, glass and aluminium, it seems that your direction is dictated by coming across new materials, or predilections for certain media? JMO – Materials are one of the keys to understanding my works, it is the visible tip of the iceberg. The links between the senses are also made with words, text, obsessions, what is between the lines, encounters, loss...This retrospective actually shows the complexity of these references that make up the different layers of my life. In the book that accompanies the exhibition, your text follows this development over the last 25 years and reveals the different stages in my work. CG – The exhibition shows a progression from the intimate to the monumental, from the body and inner space towards the exterior. Why this shift? JMO – Walking through the retrospective, I have come to realize that my works function like self-portraits. They are practically autistic in the early 80s, like surrogates. Now that today I have come to terms with my life, the works reinforce this unveiling and new conquest of happiness, they are more autonomous and free now. CG – Your last works are the blueprint for a new direction, do they mark a turning point in your creative career? JMO – I wanted to complete the twelve exhibitions that represented my retrospective in the Galeries du Musée with a new exhibition. The last room shows all the largest and most spectacular new works. The discovery of metaphor and psychoanalysis gave rise to more abstract sculptures which are as complex as clock mechanisms. They move in space and present dynamic, enveloping shapes. CG – An exhibition / workshop is running alongside the exhibition in the Galerie des enfants. What made you choose particular works for the space and how are you going to bring the creative process alive for children? JMO – Le reel merveilleux [Marvellous Reality], is an exhibition / workshop which presents monumental works to children, Le Petit Théâtre de Peau d'Âne [The Little Donkey-skin Theatre] and The Precious Stonewall. The first one is a range of maquettes lived in by puppets created by the writer Pierre Loti 150 years ago. They demonstrate the work of a child, protected by my large 'glass menagerie'. There will also be an introduction to watercolour techniques with The Precious Stonewall – which I made in India last year during my time with Indian glass-makers – who will offer an opportunity to those participating in the workshop to collaborate with children from the village of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.