Basquiat, Matisse, Picasso, Twombly.
The exhibition presented at the Collection Lambert returns to the sources of the raw energy in Jean-Michel Basquiat’s painting, questioning the uniqueness of his art, as visceral as it is self-aware, that quickly surpasses its own specificities, and the dazzling talent that quickly surpasses its own specificities, and the dazzling talent of a young prodigy to symbolize, in themselves, new ways of approaching the art of the 80s.
As part of Grand Arles Express (satellite program of the Rencontres d’Arles), with which the Collection Lambert has partnered since its creation in 2016, the famous Brazilian artist Vik Muniz returns to Avignon eight years after his major solo exhibition to present a series of works for the first time in Europe.
Entitled “Imaginária,” the series to be displayed at the Collection Lambert consists in 19 photographs of saints as represented by the most renowned artists, such as Saint Agnes by Simon Vouet, Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne, and Saint Sebastian by José de Ribera.
A NORMAL WORKING DAY : VARIOUS DAY
Alongside “Nirvana” (performance included in the Sélection suisse en Avignon), the Collection Lambert has invited “A Normal Working Day” to occupy its various basement spaces. Blending the extravagant sensuality of Delgado Fuchs with the poetic precision of the electromechanical installations of Zimoun, “Various Days” locates being in appearing and vice versa, and questions uniqueness, individuality, and identity. The work is an immersive experience and rewards a sharp eye. While the mass effect is undeniable, meaning is also hidden in the details.
The work originated when three artists in neighboring studios began probing what constituted their “normal working day.” This led Marco Delgado, Nadine Fuchs, and Zimoun to form the collective “A Normal Working Day.” The trio’s platform is interactive and brings together visual and performing arts in seductive parades, mischievous disguises and cross-dressing, and disincarnated plastic bodies. The characters become images, icons, actors of their own metamorphosis. This means incorporating bodies in entirely orchestrated visual systems, creating a motif that invades the space via various and often unexpected supports. A spectacular multiplication, as seductive as it is disquieting.
MIRYAM HADDAD : LE SOMMEIL N’EST PAS UN LIEU SÛR
For the Festival d'Avignon
Presented at the Collection Lambert in the exhibition “Rêvez #2” in 2018, Miryam Haddad was selected in 2019 to create the poster for the 73rd edition of the Festival d’Avignon. The Collection Lambert is setting aside two rooms in its permanent collection space to present a series of her recent works.
These pieces reveal her influences, such as the colorful, vibrant paintings of James Ensor and Oskar Kokoschka in which grotesque figures gradually disclose subtleties and depths. Wandering through Haddad’s phantasmagorical world is a game as strange for the viewer as it is marvelous. Mad dances and variegated mythic forms constantly flirt with abstraction in intense colors and engender a mix of pleasure and uneasiness.