Sophie Ristelhueber, What The Fuck !
“What the Fuck!” is a powerful outcry from Sophie Ristelhueber, all the more striking for an artist whose reserve and discretion have always been the hallmarks of the radicality of her work. It is a strong iconoclastic gesture that questions the relevance of art in our world ablaze and at war, literally undermining the very principle of exhibition.
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It expresses the revolt of a “history painter”, as described by art historian Thomas Schlesser, who has been reflecting for over forty years on territory and its history through the ruins and traces left by humanity in places devastated by wars or by natural and cultural upheavals. Half a century during which little has changed, as humanity’s madness continues to inflict the same wounds on the centuries-old landscapes of the Middle East, as well as on those of Europe and Central Asia.
Sophie Ristelhueber literally emerges from her reserve, gathering her most emblematic works, abandoned on the gallery floor, as if defeated and on strike, in a stunning dialogue with previously-unseen photographs of animals that she is exhibiting for the first time.
In resonance with Sophie Ristelhueber’s exhibition, the gallery is presenting, in the firstfloor exhibition space, a collection of works centred on animality, including an exceptional set of wildlife photographs by George Shiras (1859–1942), taken in the late 19th century in the darkness of American forests. These will be in dialogue with photographs by Darío Villalba, and works by Ittah Yoda and Andro Eradze.
DISCUSSION SERIES
Thursday 28 November at 7pm : Julia Marchand on the work of Andro Eradze
Friday 6 December at 7pm : Discussion between Vinciane Desprets and Jean-Christophe Bailly Followed by a book signing by the authors
Thursday 9 January 2025 : Discussion with Thomas Schlesser Followed by a book signing by the author
Jérôme Poggi would like to especially thank Vinciane Despret for the text she wrote to introduce the exhibition, as well as Jean-Christophe Bailly and Thomas Schlesser, who will participate during the exhibition. He wishes to express his sincere gratitude to Jérôme Prochiantz and Gérôme Saint Germain for bringing together the works of George Shiras, and to Julia Marchand for the introduction of Andro Eradze. Finally, he extends his gratitude to the Villalba Archives for the trust shown in lending rare works by Darío Villalba.
