With each piece, Patrick Neu turns traditional technique on its head and embarks on new experiments, which he extends for as long as required. The artist works with materials not often found in the art world: bees' wings, lampblack on glass, crystal, wax, blocks of Chinese ink, butterfly wings, sloughed snakeskin, eggshells, charred paper, etc. For 30 years, Patrick Neu has been developing his art discreetly. The works selected for his exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo are a nod towards this perilous dialogue with the materials and the memory of the world. Daring decisions, the adventure of thought, an insistence on duration and a dialogue with history are all ingredients in the artist's researches into memory and forgetting processes, the macabre blooming of flowers and the endurance of ancient images.
Book contents
- "Paying close attention to things": Patrick Neu in conversation with Jean de Loisy
- "Even as the petals fade and fall to the ground, the scent hovers there in the memory": an essay by Katell Jaffrès, curator of Patrick Neu's exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo
- Notes on a selection of the artist's works.
About the authors
- Katell Jaffrès is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo.
Published on the occasion of Patrick Neu's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, 24.06 2015 - 13.09 2015
Political, poetic, committed, profound: Jean-Michel Alberola's oeuvre is an artist's reaction to reality, human feelings and the state of the world. His exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo triggers a voyage that stimulates the eye and the mind as it maps the underappreciated diversity of his work. Associating bodily and geographical fragments with ambiguous statements and injunctions, this major and utterly distinctive figure on the French art scene shapes rebuses that challenge both our way of seeing and the role of art in society. And yet, in its intermingling of artistic speculation and political questioning, and of conceptualism, abstraction and figuration, Alberola's unique, hard-hitting oeuvre is never without its touch of humour.
Book contents
- "Adding Up the Details: Chapter 1": A text by Jean-Michel Alberola.
- "The Crossing and the Passeur": A conversation between Jean-Michel Alberola and Katell Jaffrès, curator of Jean-Michel Alberola's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo.
- "He Who is Taking Himself by Surprise": An essay by Dominique Païni.
About the authors
- Katell Jaffrès is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo.
- Dominique Païni is a critic, a writer and a curator. He has written numerous publications focusing on the connection between cinema and fine arts.
Book published on the occasion of Jean-Michel Alberola's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, "L'Aventure des détails" 19.02 - 16.05 2016
In his film work, Jesper Just links images of an exceptional quality to sound and music. Enigmas disrupt the narrative, creating a poetry-liberating tension. The artist leaves spectators with their own doubts and emotions. The work conceived for the Palais de Tokyo consists of an audiovisual installation and a spatial intervention, which transforms both the space and the visitor's journey. The One World Trade Center, an iconic and controversial skyscraper, is as much the scene of the films, as a character in itself. It functions as a phantom limb, while also standing for resilience. The films follow two characters: a young girl, who is not an individual but embodies the ideals of youth and feminity conveyed today, and a disabled child. The characters mirror, oppose and interact, to explore themes of ableism and agency as well as the boundaries of body and selfhood.
Book contents
- "Servitudes": Jesper Just in conversation with Katell Jaffrès, curator of Jesper Just's exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo
- "In The Doubling of Dreams": an essay by Fabien Danesi on Jesper Just's film work
- Notes on a selection of the artist's films
About the authors
- Fabien Danesi is an art historian. He's managing the programme of the Pavillon Neuflize OBC, the research lab of the Palais de Tokyo.
- Katell Jaffrès is a curator at the Palais de Tokyo.
Published on the occasion of Jesper Just's solo exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo, "Servitudes", 24.06 2015 - 13.09 2015
Politique, poétique, engagée et profonde, l'oeuvre de Jean-Michel Alberola lui permet de réagir par l'art, sur le réel, les sentiments et l'état du monde. Son exposition au Palais de Tokyo initie un voyage qui stimule le regard et la pensée, en cartographiant la diversité méconnue de son travail. Associant des fragments de corps ou de géographies à des énoncés ou des injonctions ambiguës, cet artiste majeur et inclassable de la scène française compose autant de rébus qui interrogent notre regard tout comme le rôle de l'art dans la société. Évoluant entre réflexions artistiques et questionnements politiques, entre conceptualisme, abstraction et figuration, l'oeuvre de Jean-Michel Alberola, unique et percutante, n'est jamais dénuée d'humour.
Livre publié à l'occasion de l'exposition personnelle de Jean-Michel Alberola au Palais de Tokyo, « L'Aventure des détails », 19.02 - 16.05 2016
Dans son travail filmique, Jesper Just associe les images, d'une qualité exceptionnelle, au son et à la musique. L'énigme vient perturber la narration et la tension créée laisse émerger la poésie. L'artiste livre ainsi le spectateur à ses interrogations et ses émotions.
Livre publié à l'occasion de l'exposition personnelle de Jesper Just au Palais de Tokyo, « Servitudes », 24.06 2015 - 13.09 2015
Chaque oeuvre réalisée par Patrick Neu détourne des techniques traditionnelles et engage de nouvelles expérimentations qu'il poursuit aussi longtemps que nécessaire. L'artiste manie des matériaux peu familiers du champ de l'art : ailes d'abeille, noir de fumée sur verre, cristal, cire, bloc d'encre de Chine, ailes de papillon, mues de serpent, coquilles d'oeuf, papier carbonisé, etc. Depuis trente ans Patrick Neu développe son travail dans la discrétion. Les oeuvres présentées dans son exposition au Palais de Tokyo suggèrent ce dialogue périlleux avec les matériaux et la mémoire du monde. Les décisions audacieuses, l'aventure de la pensée, l'insistance de la durée, le dialogue avec l'histoire sont les ingrédients de la recherche de l'artiste sur les processus de la mémoire et de l'oubli, sur l'épanouissement macabre des fleurs, sur la rémanence des images archaïques.
Livre publié à l'occasion de l'exposition personnelle de Patrick Neu au Palais de Tokyo, 24.06 2015 - 13.09 2015
