THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS THE 1980S PHOTOGRAPH, FILM · the unbearable lightness the 1980s...
Transcript of THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS THE 1980S PHOTOGRAPH, FILM · the unbearable lightness the 1980s...
THE 1980S
COMMUNICATION AND PARTNERSHIPS DEPARTMENT
PRESS KIT
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESSTHE 1980SPHOTOGRAPH, FILM24 FEBRUARY 2016 - 23 MAY 2016
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS THE 1980S PHOTOGRAPH, FILM24 FEBRUARY 2016 - 23 MAY 2016
CONTENTS
1. PRESS RELEASE PAGE 3
2. EXHIBITION PLAN PAGE 5
3. LIST OF WORKS EXHIBITED PAGE 6
4. WALL LABELS PAGE 11
5. SELECTION OF MAJOR WORKS PAGE 13
6. THE PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY OF THE CENTRE POMPIDOU PAGE 17
7. PHOTOGRAPY ACQUISITION GROUP PAGE 18
8. PRESS VISUALS PAGE 19
9. PRATICAL INFORMATION PAGE 25
communication and partnerships department 75191 Paris cedex 04
directorBenoît Parayretelehone00 33 (0)1 44 78 12 87email [email protected]
press officerElodie Vincenttelephone00 33 (0)1 44 78 48 56email [email protected]
www.centrepompidou.fr
15 February 2016
PRESS RELEASE
THE UNBEREABLE LIGHTNESS THE 1980S PHOTOGRAPH, FILM 24 FEBRUARY - 23 MAY 2016 PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY, FORUM-1
Heterogeneous, elusive, painful, fantastical, still too close, as light-hearted as they were serious, the Eighties were full of contrasts and paradoxes. With films and photographs from its collections, the Centre Pompidou cast a fresh eye on this decade in an exhibition featuring over 20 artists and some 60 works in a completely new circuit.
From Florence Paradeis to Jean-Paul Goude, and from Karen Knorr to Présence Panchounette by
way of Martin Parr and Pierre and Gilles, the works selected mostly express criticism of culture
and society through various strategies, such as irony, realistic or imaginative staging, pastiche,
subverted sets and odes to artifice. The history of Eighties photography somewhat eludes
comprehension even today.
While neo-documentary forms (such as “The Düsseldorf School”, the photographic project of
DATAR, the Interdepartmental Delegation for Territorial Development and Regional Attractiveness)
were positively received by critics overall, the same was not true of “manufactured”, staged
or possibly “Baroque” photography, which represented much of the work produced in the
Eighties. Beyond the sometimes too all-inclusive concept of post-modernism, the Eighties saw
the emergence of new issues that were both poetic and political. Hybridisation, humour, irony,
eroticism and nostalgia are all possible keys to interpreting the art of this period, particularly its
photography.
Mainly dedicated to the Western and American scene of the 1980s, well-represented in the Centre
Pompidou’s collection, this exhibition reflects the geopolitical and economic order of a time when
the ideological divisions between North and South, East and West, capitalist democracies and
centralised totalitarian regimes were being swept aside by the new global economy.
With a mix of famous works and others awaiting rediscovery, the exhibition draws us into the
aesthetics and sometimes popular iconography typical of this period and geography.
communication and partnerships department 75191 Paris cedex 04 director Benoît Parayre telephone 00 33 (0)1 44 78 12 87 email [email protected] press officerElodie Vincent telephone 00 33 (0)1 44 78 48 56 email [email protected] www.centrepompidou.fr
Agnès Bonnot :
Untitled, 1982
40,2 x 26,4 cm
Cibachrome Print
Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris
Centre Pompidou / PH. Migeat / Dist. RMN-GP
© Agnès Bonnot / Agence Vu’
15 February 2016
In partnership with
In France, the Eighties were crucial for photography in terms of art and heritage. Several major photography
museums and collections sprang up or developed under a new impulse. At the same time, a new generation
of “painter-photographers” appeared, who were keen to do away with the barrier between photography and
painting and rebelled against the language of the previous generation. This new photography, often highly
“pictorialist” in Western countries, developed forms that were closely connected with technical advances in
this area: the availability of good-quality colour photography, the possibilities provided by large formats and the
instantaneousness of Polaroid. The meeting between these new production methods and the search for different
forms and themes in classic photography created another paradox: works that were openly anti-documentary
proved to be such an accurate reflection of the reality they came from that in the end they were its best
representation.
The exhibition of the Centre Pompidou brings together for the first time the works of BazileBustamante, Agnès Bonnot, David Buckland, Ellen Carey, Clegg & Guttmann, Tom Drahos, Jean-Paul Goude, Hergo, Karen Knorr, Elizabeth Lennard, Joachim Mogarra, Patrick Nagatani, Paul de Nooijer, Alice Odilon, Florence Paradeis, Martin Parr, Pierre et Gilles, Présence Panchounette, Alix Cléo Roubaud, Sandy Skoglund,
In partnership with
On social networks :
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https://www.facebook.com/centrepompidou
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2. EXHIBITION PLAN
(Dis)appearing
The duplicity of artifice
Class practices
The place of decor
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3. LIST OF WORKS EXHIBITED
1/ THE PLACE OF DECOR
Mark Wilcox (1959, United Kingdom )
Calling the shots, 1984
U-matic video, PAL, color, sound, 12’
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1992
Alix Cléo Roubaud (1952, Mexico, Mexico; 1983,
Paris, France)
Untitled, 1980 – 1981
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of Jacques Roubaud, 2011
Elizabeth Lennard (1953, New York, United
States)
Brick Wall, Staten Island, New York, 1978
Painted gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1980
Elizabeth Lennard (1953, New York, United
States)
Les gratte-ciel s’écartèlent, 1978
Painted gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1980
BAZILEBUSTAMANTE
The RVLC, 1984
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Présence PanchounetteSuch a taste, 1974
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence PanchounetteGloomy TV, 1974
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette The taste of the others – Aslan School, 1974
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette Out of step, 1976
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
I got my mojo workin’baby, 1980
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence PanchounetteMarilyn chooses the chair, 1981
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
The same fools wander another time , 1982
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
The dreams of Eric, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
We are not Miro, 1984
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
The good pair, 1987
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy Semiose Gallery, Paris
Présence Panchounette
Fake brick silkscreen, 1978
Framed silkscreen
David Rochline (1951, Malakoff, France – 2015, Malakoff, France)
Maquette pour une carte de vœux de Christian
Lacroix pour l’année 1992,1991
Private collection, Paris
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2/ CLASS PRACTICES
Florence Paradeis (1964, Anthony, France)
Untitled – Series 1 : 1988-1989, 1988
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou,musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Agnès Bonnot (1949, Marsaz, France)
Untitled, 1982
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 1983
Martin Parr (1952, Epsom, United Kingdom)
The Cost of Living – Royal Commonwealth Society
Function for a Summer Evening, 1986
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Martin Parr (1952, Epsom, United Kingdom)
The Cost of Living – Punk with her Mother, 1986
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Martin Parr (1952, Epsom, United Kingdom)
The Cost of Living – Snowdonia,
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Martin Parr (1952, Epsom, United Kingdom)
The Cost of Living – Wedding Preparation, 1986
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
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Purchase 2008
3/ THE DUPLICITY OF ARTIFICE
Patrick Nagatani (1945, Chicago, United States)
Passage of Time – Unidentified Flying Objects,
F-15s of the 49th TAC Fighter Wing, Holloman Air
Force Base, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, 1990
Chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of Ixis Corporate & Investment Bank, 2006
Paul de Nooijer (1943, Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Electriclawnmowingiron, 1977
Painted gelatin silver print, collage
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1984
Paul de Nooijer (1943, Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Transformation by holding times, 1976
16 mm film, colour, 4’
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1998
Sandy Skoglund (1946, Boston, Etats-Unis)
Radioactive Cats, 1980
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Boyd Webb (1947, Christchurch, Nouvelle-Zélande)
Denizen, 1989
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1990
Tom Drahos (1947, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech republic)
Untitled, 1981
Painted gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Tom Drahos
(1947, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech republic)
Untitled, 1981
Painted gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Tom Drahos (1947, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech republic)
Untitled, 1981
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Tom Drahos
(1947, Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech republic)
Untitled, 1981
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Joachim Mogarra (1954, Masdenverge, Spain)
Aswan dam, from the «Images of the World»
series, 1984
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Joachim Mogarra (1954, Masdenverge, Spain)
Stop-over at Papeete, from the «Images of the
World » series, 1985
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
Joachim Mogarra (1954, Masdenverge, Spain)
Raid on Entebbé from the «Images of the World»
series, 1983
Gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Donation of the Caisse des Dépôts, 2006
4/ (DIS)APPEARING
Unglee (1949, Nice, France)
Radio-snake, 1980
16 mm film, colour, sound, 12’
Artist’s proof, 2015
Private collection
Alice Odilon (1959, Le Coteau, France)
Untitled, 1982
Silver gelatin print retouched
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Alice Odilon (1959, Le Coteau, France)
Chrys, 1982
Gelatin silver print, retouched
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1985
Ellen Carey (1952, New York, United States)
Self-Portrait, 1984
Polaroid
Ellen Carey, Courtesy JHB Gallery, New York and
M+B Gallery, Los Angeles
Ellen Carey (1952, New York, United States)
Self-Portrait, 1984
Polaroid
Ellen Carey, Courtesy JHB Gallery, New York and
M+B Gallery, Los Angeles
Ellen Carey (1952, New York, United States)
Self-Portrait, 1987
Polaroid
Collection of Scott Osman
Ellen Carey (1952, New York,United States)
Self-Portrait, 1987
Polaroid
Ellen Carey, Courtesy JHB Gallery, New York and
M+B Gallery, Los Angeles
Ellen Carey (1952, New York, United States)
Self-Portrait, 1987
Polaroid
Ellen Carey, Courtesy JHB Gallery, New York and
M+B Gallery, Los Angeles
Hergo (1951, Cholet, France)
The Mythos series, 1989
Eleven gelatin silver print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Gift of the artist, 2014
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Grace revised and corrected, New York, 1978
Felt-tip and adhesive tape on cut-out paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Grace revised and corrected, New York, 1978
Digital gelatin silver print 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Grace revised and corrected, New York, 1978
Cut-out Ektachrome
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
A One-man Show – Sketch for hat, New York, 1979
Felt-tip, ballpoint pen and adhesive tape on paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Grace revised and corrected, Nassau, 1980
Ballpoint pen and adhesive tape on paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Libertango, New York, 1980
Ballpoint pen and adhesive tape on paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Libertango - Beacon Theatre, New York, 1981
Ballpoint pen and felt-tip on paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Cubist Grace, New York, 1981
Digital gelatin silver print 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Blue-black in black on grey, New York, 1981
Digital print mounted on aluminum 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Libertango, New York, 1981
Digital gelatin silver print 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Libertango – Sketch for costume, New York, 1981
Felt-tip, gouache and adhesive tape on paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Libertango – Sketch for costume, New York, 1981
Felt-tip and adhesive tape paper
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Constructivist-inspired maternity dress, in
collaboration with Antonio Lopez, New York, 1979
Digital print mounted on aluminum 2015
Private collection
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Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Cry now, laugh later, New York, 1982
Digital gelatin silver print 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Demolition Man, Londres, 1982
Digital gelatin silver print 2015
Private collection
Jean-Paul Goude (1940, Saint-Mandé, France)
Slave to the rhythm, New York, 1986
Cut-out Ektachrome
Private collection
Pierre et Gilles (1949, La Roche-sur-Yon, France ;
1953, Sainte-Adresse, France)
Etienne Daho, 1984
Painted chromogenic print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 2015
David Buckland (1949, Londres, United Kingdom)
The Numerologist, 1983
Cibachrome print
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
State purchase, 1985. Attribution in 1988
Clegg & Guttmann
(1957, Dublin, Irelande ; 1957, Jerusalem, Israel)
The Chess Players, 1985
Cibachromes under diasec
Centre Pompidou, musée national d’art moderne
Purchase, 1987
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4. WALL LABELS
THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS
Heterogeneous, elusive, painful, fantastical, simultaneously light-hearted and serious, the Eighties were
rife with paradoxes. In France, photography conquered institutions and moved into the field of the arts,
while the new generation known as «painter-photographers» turned away from a practice doggedly
focused on the specific features of the medium. Sometimes dubbed «pictorialist», this movement gave rise
to unprecedented forms closely linked with contemporary technical developments, such as the arrival of
high-quality colour photography, large formats, and the instantaneousness provided by Polaroid. Paradoxi-
cally, these openly anti-documentary photographs sometimes proved such an accurate reflection of the
reality they evidenced that they were often its most effective representation. With a strong critical dimen-
sion, they addressed the great paradigms emerging in contemporary society: individualism and theatrica-
lity within the social sphere, the subordination to consumption and the exhaustion of modern culture. Film
makers and photographers confronted each other using various strategies such as irony, realistic or
imaginative staging, pastiche, subverted sets and odes to artifice.
THE PLACE OF DECOR The term «decor» has several meanings. Its etymology, decorum, evokes propriety: something we are
supposed to aim for. It can mean an ornament, and also a deceptive appearance; an illusion; a stage set.
This threefold definition reflects the ambivalence of photography and experimental film in the Eighties.
This was because many works questioned the primacy of appearance, which, in the age of AIDS and
Thatcherism, masked reality in favour of the proprieties, offering the world a model of illusory accomplish-
ment. The omnipresence of «decor» thus became a pretext for challenging bourgeois society. What was
staged, and what broke through was the reality of society behind the walls and ornaments. To reflect this,
artists mingled techniques: photographers used paint, considering photography as an object, even creating
frames for their works, and using mise en abîme to blend reality with fiction.
CLASS PRACTICES
Many artists observed and recorded middle-class codes and attitudes during the Eighties, thus highligh-
ting Pierre Bourdieu’s assertion that social background determines a lifestyle. Despite the rebellions of
1968, ten years on, there was no change in the class divisions that structured society according to
constantly-changing factors (capital, education, access to information, etc.). Society remained totally
bourgeois; capitalism flourished. In order to factor in social practices or stage their criticism, photo-
graphers and film directors played around with effects of photographic veracity. They made ironic use of
documentary-style effects of accumulation, casting a falsely objective eye on so-called daily situations, or
pushed theatricality to the point of arousing a sense of incongruity. In this way, they all built up a new
language fit for reconstructing the narratives of contemporary society.
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THE DUPLICITY OF ARTIFICE
The Eighties were marked by a taste for artifice that took root in areas as varied as photography,
experimental film, fashion and popular culture in general. The disaffection blighting this decade,
particularly in the eyes of art historians, lays in the artificial character of the images it engendered,
and their exuberance. After the asceticism of conceptual photography, the art of staging was now
predominant and fully exploited the advanced techniques provided by the photo industry. Like painters
and sculptors, photographers dreamed up genuine installations – interior scenes or fanciful settings
– designed to be photographed, mingling reality and fiction to produce a curious mixture that might be
described as «queer» Surrealism. The anxieties of a self-satisfied society were thus sublimated by
calling upon the bizarre and absurd.
(DIS)APPEARING
Offering oneself to the general view, being seen and standing out are all functions of the portrait and
self-portrait. The period made this genre its particular field of play, questioning the ideas of identity,
social status, convention and representation. While the portrait traditionally brings us closer to the
subject, the portraits of the Eighties take us further away from it; they hide as much as they reveal, like
a mask that conceals the «I». They enabled artists to reinvent themselves or imagine the Other for the
space of a shot. Androgyny, the make-up hiding people’s faces, the decorative motifs that engulfed bodies
and the references to codified aesthetics (Flemish and Renaissance paintings) were all areas explored by
artists in order to highlight individualities drowning in a society that constrained and absorbed them. The
idea of a «natural» state was denied. For a decade, it ceased to be sought after, because these photo-
graphs delineated a world so comfortable, if rigid, that it assuaged the contemporary thirst for well-being
and peace.
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5. SELECTION OF MAJOR WORKS
BAZILEBUSTAMANTE (Bernard Bazile, 1952, Meymac ; Jean-Marc Bustamante, 1952, Toulouse)
Le RVLC, 1984
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne
The name BAZILEBUSTAMANTE conceals two artists: Bernard Bazile and Jean-
Marc Bustamante. Working together from 1983 to 1986, they turned away from
conceptual photography to focus on Baroque decorative forms, mainly used in
painting, particularly the «photographic painting» vein. The effects of accumula-
tion, precious materials and framing gave their corpus a strongly pictorial dimen-
sion. Meanwhile, the flat-backed armchair and «table en cabaret» of 1760 com-
missioned from the cabinetmaker RVLC (Roger Vandercruse, aka Lacroix)
crystallised its critical aspect, emphasising the power of the economic empires at
the root of the bourgeois lifestyle.
ELISABETH LENNARDLes gratte-ciel s’écartèlent, 1978
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne
The American photographer and film director Elizabeth Lennard makes photography a
linchpin for cinema and painting through painted or filmed photographs. Here she
covers her black and white prints on matt paper with a thin layer of oil paint. Colourisa-
tion gives her pictures a textured aspect and living feel that liberate them from
photographic techniques. The artist considers colour a means for cutting off from the
subject. For example, the walls and buildings of New York document our reality, while
colour distances us from it. These relics of an urban landscape take on a completely
new aspect that illustrates the artist’s detachment from post modernism.
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ELLEN CAREYSelf-portraits, 1987
Through her work in large format Polaroid, Ellen Carey explores the concepts of self and identity. Through an
expertise that foreshadowed digital technologies, she incorporated psychedelic motifs and mathematical
formulas into her portraits by making play with exposure to light, and colourisation. Her self-portraits record
her physical appearance without exposing it, while a mysterious geometry evokes the hidden order of nature,
or the emergence of the soul on the surface of the image. With this series, Ellen Carey materialises the
invisible, and gives shape to a reality imperceptible to the eye or camera lens.
Self-Portrait, 1987
Ellen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New
York
and M+B, Los Angeles
Self-Portrait, 1987
Ellen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New York
and M+B, Los Angeles.
Collection of Scott Osman
Self-Portrait, 1987
Ellen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New York
and M+B, Los Angeles
HERGOMythos Series, 1989
Sabine, 1990
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne
Portraits of young people on the threshold of adulthood in the Eighties, the photographs in the «Mythos» series
represent the spirit of a generation. Each model embodies the decade, as androgynous silhouettes set against
a backdrop of fabric with geometric patterns characteristic of Eighties graphics, with faces hardened by
contrasting make-up, and a touch of the rock or post-punk. Some faces are deliberately blurred, so that the
image acts as a projection screen. Through their elaborate appearance, the models construct and assert their
personal mythologies – hence the title of the series: «Mythos».
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KAREN KNORRGentlemen, 1983
Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne
During the Eighties, Karen Knorr’s work as a photographer focused on the ironic
staging of patriarchal values of Britain’s high society, with its settings and
ideology. The “Gentlemen” series was produced in London in the exclusively
male clubs of the St James’ neighbourhood, where the layout of the space and
interiors is governed by specific laws of social representation and distinction.
Here Karen Knorr combines theatricality and a deliberately distanced narrative
content. With its interference between text and image, “Gentlemen” contributed
to the renewal of documentary photographic forms of the period.
PATRICK NAGATANIPassage of Time - Unidentified Flying Objects ...., 1990
Centre Pompidou, Paris
The theatrical aspect of Patrick Nagatani’s photographs illustrates
his experience as a film set model maker. His staging, similar to that
of a director, uses a specific vocabulary consisting of forced perspec-
tive and play on the depth of field, blurring the borders between real
and artificial. Seeking to question what he calls «the facade of
representation», he builds up dream-like or nightmarish landscapes
in his photographs, where all the components contribute to a
distinctly bizarre narrative, solidly contained within the limits of the
frame.
SANDY SKOGLUNDRadioactive Cats, 1980
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Les photographies de Sandy Skoglund sont le résultat d’un long et
minutieux travail de mise en scène. Prenant place dans des univers
imaginaires, intérieurs monochromes et anxiogènes, les humains
sont envahis par des figures en terre cuite modelées par l’artiste
(chats, poissons, renards…) qui confèrent un caractère surréaliste à la
composition.
Sandy Skoglund élabore de toutes pièces la scénographie, détermi-
nant au préalable chaque élément de l’environnement et de l’éclai-
rage ainsi que la disposition de ses modèles, dans une démarche
caractéristique de la « photographie mise en scène » où l’apparente
réalité n’est qu’imposture.
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FLORENCE PARADEISUntitled - Series 1 : 1988-1989, 1988
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Florence Paradeis composes seemingly banal situations and reconstructs the micro-rites of daily life. These modern genre
scenes, micro-reports on ordinary middle class life, are only instantaneous in appearance: the pictures in fact result from posed
sessions where reality is saturated to create artificiality and theatrical gestures. In an approach directly opposite to capturing the
«decisive moment», Florence Paradeis prefers to stage the present rather than the fleeting instant. This orchestration of a daily
life made fictional aims to question the duration of the photographic image, and to «re-play» reality rather than represent it.
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6. THE PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY OF THE CENTRE POMPIDOU Located in the Forum on level -1 of the building, the idea behind the new photography gallery of 200 m2,
is to make more generous use of the rich and varied photographic resources of the musée national d’art
moderne by offering visitors fresh interpretations of a collection containing 40,000 prints and over 60,000
negatives.
With free access, this new space offers four exhibitions a year.
The annual programme of the Galerie de photographies is structured around three subjects:
- Modern photography from the 1920s to the 1930s,
- Contemporary photographic creation from the 1980s to the present day,
- A themed and cross-cutting subject addressing some of the major issues of 20th and 21st century art.
In 2014-2015, the public was able to discover the following exhibitions: Jacques-André Boiffard, a short spell
in surrealism, What is photography ?, Anna and Bernhard Blume, transcendental photography, Carte blanche
PMU 2015 to Thierry Fontaine, Varda/Cuba.
In 2016, the photography gallery is presenting:
The unbeareable lightness.The 1980’s. Photograph, film (24 February - 23 May 2016)
Louis Stettner (15 June -12 September 2016)
Carte blanche PMU 2016 ( 28 September -17 October 2016)
Brassaï (9 November 2016 - 30 January 2017)
The PMU has been the loyal partner of the Galerie de photographies since its opening in 2014.
For 6 years, the PMU has been committed to contemporary photographic creation and has given carte
blanche to photographers so that they can offer us their take on the world of betting, which might normal-
ly be considered foreign to them. The selected photographer receives €20,000 in funding for the creation
of an original project, a publication for Editions Filigranes and an exhibition at the Galerie de photogra-
phies of the Centre Pompidou.
«Jacques-André Boiffard, a short spell in surrealism» Exhibition 5 November 2014 - 2 February 2015
In partnership with
«What is photography ? » Exhibition 4 March -1st June 2015
«Anna and Bernhard Blume, transcendental photography» Exhibition 1st July - 21 September 2015
«Varda/Cuba» Exhibition11 November 2015 - 1st February 2016
7. PHOTOGRAPHY ACQUISITION GROUP GAP (PHOTOGRAPHY ACQUISITION GROUP) OF THE SOCIÉTÉ DES AMIS DU MUSÉE NATIONAL D’ART MODERNE
On the occasion of the opening of the photography gallery in November 2014, the new photography
acquisition group (GAP, Photography Acquisition Group) was created among the members of the Société
des amis du musée.
This acquisition committee aims to help enrich the collection of historical and contemporary photographs
of the Centre Pompidou. In the context of programming for the Galerie
de photographies, acquisitions made with the help of this group will be presented.
Comprised of a group of enthusiasts sharing the common aim of enriching the museum's collections
and extending their knowledge in the field of modern and contemporary photography,
the committee is led by Clément Chéroux, chief curator of the Department of Photography, Karolina
Ziebinska-Lewandowska, curator in the Department of Photography and Frédéric Paul, curator
at the division of contemporary collections, Musée national d’art moderne.
Under the guidance of Bernard Blistène, director of the Musée national d’art moderne, the curators sub-
mit acquisition files which members vote on by a simple majority.
Through this acquisition circle, the members of the GAP forge a link with the team of the Musée national
d’art moderne while developing their perspectives of photography on the occasion of visits to exhibitions,
artist workshops, private collections and favoured exchanges with curators and specialists. The group
brings together an international network of photography enthusiasts who feed into the Centre Pompidou's
photography acquisition policy on the occasion of discussions and prospecting trips.
The annual financial commitment per member amounts to €5,000 which is tax deductible up to 66 % (i.e.
an actual cost of €1,700) and qualifies them for numerous benefits.
More information : Océane Arnaud, Development Officer for the Société des Amis du musée national d’art
moderne – Centre Pompidou, [email protected]
+ 00 33 1 44 78 47 45
amisdumusee.centrepompidou.fr
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01. BazilbustamanteLe RVLC, 198485,5 x 68 cmCibachrome print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / P.Migeat/Dist. RMN-GP© droits réservés
02. Elizabeth LennardLes gratte-ciel s’écartèlent, vers 197846,4 x 31,1 cmPainted gelatin silver print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© MNAM-CCI / A.Rzepka / Dist. RMN-GP© Elizabeth Lennard
8. PRESS VISUALS
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03. Karen KnorrGentlemen, 1983Gelatin silver print, 2007Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / Dist. RMN-GP© Karen Knorr
05.Martin ParrThe Cost of Living - Wedding Preparation, 198661 x 70,5 cmChromogenic print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / J-C.Planchet / Dist. RMN-GP© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos
04. Martin Parr The Cost of Living - Punk with her Mother, 198661 x 70,5 cmChromogenic print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / J-C.Planchet / Dist. RMN-GP© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos
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07. Agnès Bonnot Untitled, 198240,2 x 26,4 cmCibachrome print Centre Pompidou, Paris
Centre Pompidou / P.Migeat / Dist. RMN-GP© Agnès Bonnot / Agence Vu’
06.Florence Paradeis
Untitled- Series 1 : 1988-1989, 1988100 x 120 cmChromogenic print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / G.Meguerditchian / Dist. RMN-GP© Florence Paradeis
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09. Sandy SkoglundRadioactive Cats, 1980Cibachrome printCentre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / Dist. RMN-GP© 1980 Sandy Skoglund
10. Paul de NooijerElectriclawnmowingiron, 1977Painted gelatin silver print, collageCentre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / Dist. RMN-GP
08. Nagatani PatrickPassage of Time - Unidentified Flying Objects , F-15s of the 49th TAC Fighter Wing, Holloman Air Force Base, near Alamogordo, New Mexico, 1990 63,5 x 78,7 cmChromogenic print Centre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / G.Meguerditchian / Dist. RMN-GP© Patrick Nagatani
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13. Ellen CareySelf-Portrait, 1987Polaroid 20 x 2460 x 50 cm, uniqueEllen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New Yorkand M+B, Los Angeles© Ellen Carey
12. Ellen CareySelf-Portrait, 1987Polaroid 20 x 2460 x 50 cm, uniqueEllen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New York and M+B, Los AngelesCollection of Scott Osman© Ellen Carey
11. Ellen CareySelf-Portrait, 1987Polaroid 20 x 2460 x 50 cm, uniqueEllen Carey, Courtesy of JHB Gallery, New Yorkand M+B, Los Angeles© Ellen Carey
14. Jean-Paul GoudeBlue-black in black on grey, New York, 1981Digital print mounted on aluminum Private collection © Jean-Paul Goude
16.HergoFrom the Mythos Series Sabine, 199023,7 x 17,7 cmGelatin silver printCentre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / G.Meguerdit-chian / Dist. RMN-GP© Hergo
17. HergoFrom the Mythos SeriesSophie, 199423,7 x 17,7 cmGelatin silver printCentre Pompidou, Paris
© Centre Pompidou / G.Meguerdit-chian / Dist. RMN-GP© Hergo
15. Jean-Paul GoudeCry now, laugh later, New York 1982Digital gelatin silver print 2015Private collection
© Jean-Paul Goude
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9. PRATICAL INFORMATION
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Centre Pompidou
75191 Paris cedex 04
telephone
00 33 (0)1 44 78 12 33
metro
Hôtel de Ville, Rambuteau
Opening hours
Exhibition open every day
from 11 am to 9 pm
except on Tuesday
Closed on May 1st
Price
Free admission
www.centrepompidou.fr
CHÂTEAUX DE SABLE :
ARCHITECTURES DE RÊVE
JEAN-YVES JOUANNAIS
UNTIL 7 MARCH 2016
press officer
Dorothée Mireux
01 44 78 46 60
ANSELM KIEFER
UNTIL 18 APRIL 2016
Galerie 1, Level 6
press officer
Elodie Vincent
01 44 78 48 56
GÉRARD FROMANGER
17 FEBRUARY - 16 MAY 2016
Galerie du musée, galerie art
graphique, Level 4
press officer
Céline Janvier
01 44 78 49 87
CHER(E)S AMI(E)S
HOMAGE TO DONORS OF THE
CONTEMPORARY COLLECTIONS:
PART 1 / GIFTS AND DONATIONS
STARTING 16 MARCH 2016
Museum, Level 4
press officer
Anne-Marie Pereira
01 44 78 40 69
FOCUS AT THE MUSEUM:
HOMAGE TO VITTORIO GREGOTTI
30 MARCH - 16 MAY 2016
Museum, Level 5
press officer
Dorothée Mireux
01 44 78 46 60
PAUL KLEE
L’IRONIE À L’ŒUVRE
6 APRIL- 1ER AUGUST 2016
Galerie 2, Level 6
press officer
Anne-Marie Pereira
01 44 78 40 69
PIERRE PAULIN
11 MAY - 22 AUGUST 2016
Galerie Sud, Level 1
press officer
Céline Janvier
01 44 78 49 87
Karolina
Ziebinska-Lewandowska
curator, photography
department at the Musée national
d’art moderne
In collaboration with Marie Auger,
Emmanuelle Etchecopar-Etchart,
Jonathan Pouthier
PRATICAL INFORMATION AT THE SAME TIME IN THE CENTRE POMPIDOU CURATOR