Thaddeus Ropac Gallery in Pantin, near Paris presents a perfect ode to the space by 20 artistes called Space Age. A fantastic scenography and stories which are all linked one with the other. Here are some of it and how I imagined the interpretation.
On James Rosenquist painting sits a rotatable Mirror inviting us into introspection. It says An Intrinsic Existence. Mirror like the Moon which reflects ourselves, the room and also our deepest desires, such as to walk on its surface. And buy the way – this is what is reflected – an astronaut walking on the Moon – by Philippe Bradshaw– picture made of aluminium curtains. Very intriguing story.
Sylvie Fleury shows her female version rocket with glittering surface, it stands still on its 3 legs, with no engine but ready to go towards the Sky. While Lee Bul’s vision is a falling apart engine rocket with frog coming out of it. I wish you are lucky with the frog – it comes out once per hour. But again, like the curtain on Philippe Bradshow, there is a part of mystery in it since this is not a smoke which we would expect to see but the frog.
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov art work is a 7 meters long Fallen angel, interpretation of an utopia and desire to go to the Sky. As if the mythology of Icare could be compared to contemporary space exploration.
And last one that I would like to share, but not the least in the show, is the drawing of Valentina Tereshkova by Robert Longo. Valentina is the first women astronaut (or rather cosmonaut in Russian) in Space and she still remains the only women who went alone up there. Which is I believe is the reason on the picture she is face to face with the Space. Her eyes are looking down, eather to the Earth or inside herself, a kind of introspection, a Mirror, a mystery or Cosmos.
Phylin
Galerie Thaddeus Ropac Pantin (near Paris)
Cory Arcangel, Richard Artschwager, Jules de Balincourt, Stephan Balkenhol, Philippe Bradshaw, Lee Bul, Harun Farocki, Dan Flavin, Sylvie Fleury, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Alex Katz, Anselm Kiefer, Robert Longo, Patrick Neu, Jack Pierson, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Tom Sachs, Sturtevant, Not Vital
69, AVENUE DU GÉNÉRAL LECLERC FR-93500 PANTIN
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