EXPOSITION
“All Men Are Islands”
2024 - 2025
The title of the exhibition, "All men are islands," is clearly a subversive reworking of John Donne's original phrase, "No man is an island."
In terms of definition, an island has clear physical boundaries, which seems to designate it as a closed entity, evoking the tragic narrative of Japan's isolation during the Edo period, as reflected in the works of Season Lao. However, do these boundaries truly serve as obstacles to expansion, as we might assume? Take the Polynesians, for example. Despite the vast distances between Taiwan, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and Hawaii, the Polynesians were still able to successfully explore and settle these relatively isolated islands. This fact suggests that, for them, the ocean was not an insurmountable barrier but rather a passage leading to new worlds. For the Polynesians, islands are "nodes" that connected one place to another, fostering inter-island trade, cultural exchange, and migration. In fact, the Polynesian sea routes represent a deep understanding and mastery of the sea. It shows the isolation of islands is really only a mental construct of boundaries and limitations in our minds.
Therefore, we might also view seafaring as a form of connection that transcends different dimensions. Just like Michelangelo Pistoletto’s use of mirrors to reflect both the inside and outside, where subject and object meet, he creates an "Espace temps," where the mirror surface becomes a passage where time and space intertwine. Similarly, for Antony Gormley, sculpture is not confined to a given space or dimension; rather, it should create new spaces within existing ones, linking the known world to the unknown. Peihang Benoit, through painting, transcends the lockdowns imposed by the pandemic, taking herself into the deep realms of memory and imagination.
Finally, when we look at the photographs of Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, the figures inside are on a small boat, heading off into the vast ocean without a glance back, we can sense that the seemingly closed island always holds the potential to break through limits and lead to a new openness.
COLLABORATION
“SEASON LAO”
Artist en résidence Square de La Tour Maubourg
du 12 - 19 Octobre 2024
Chez Françoise Viard / 8, square de La Tour Maubourg 75007 Paris
EXPOSITION Taipei
“OBJECT / NON-OBJECT”
26 Février - 26 Mars 2024
十八號舞臺
No. 18, Jinzhuang Rd., Neihu Dist., Taipei City 114601 , Taiwan (R.O.C.)
EXPOSITION
“OBJECT / NON-OBJECT”
19 OCTOBRE - 16 DÉCEMBRE 2023
Is an artwork an object?
Evidently it is, every being including humans is an object. But an object which could talk, think, sigh, sing, dance opens a door to a wider world beyond object and non-object, being and not being. It would be too arrogant to say it’s our ‘regard’ that changes the meaning of an artwork, it doesn’t depend on how we see, but depend on how we live the very instant: here, right now (hic et nunc). Like Anish Kapoor once said,’ there’s no red without black.’ There’s no life without death, hence, there’s no being without not-being. Being able to catch this, in my personal opinion, is the greatest fortune to have as a human being in this lifetime.
SPONSORS
ASIA NOW
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Wagiwagi
EXPOSITION
“WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO
GREAT WOMEN ARTISTS ?”
21 OCTOBRE 2022 - 26 JANIVER 2023
Disadvantage may indeed be an excuse; it is not, however, an intellectual position. Rather, using as a vantage point their situation as underdogs in the realm of grandeur, and outsiders in that of ideology, women can reveal institutional and intellectual weaknesses in general, and at the same time that they destroy false consciousness take part in the creation of institutions in which clear thought —and true greatness—are challenges open to anyone, man or woman, courageous enough to take the necessary risk, the leap into the unknown.
—Linda Nochlin
Some might think it’s no longer necessary to discuss about the importance of women artists, after all, it’s becoming rather politically correct to secure important rate, if not total, of participation to major exhibitions in all kind of institutions nowadays. Yet, in Novus Art Salon, we would still like to invite our friends sharing their ideas about what have been analyzed by Linda Nochlin in 1971: Why have there been no great women artists?
The question itself affirmed that there have been no great women artists. What Nochlin would like to suggest was on which position should women artists stand facing this great disadvantages caused by various reasons in the history of art. Position to create, position to curate, position to write new history, position to criticize, or, in short, position to compete with men artists? Is art creating becoming a champs de bataille for different sexual identities? In the same logic, a champs de bataille for different ethnics and nationalities?
EXPOSITION INAUGURALE
“MY KIND OF GUY”
17 JUIN - 27 NOVEMBRE 2021
MY KIND OF GUY…
Notre exposition inaugurale emprunte son nom à l’oeuvre de Susan Hiller « My Kind of Guy ». Constitué d’une centaine de cravates en soie collectionnées par l’artiste pendant plus de trente ans, ce canapé totalement fonctionnel est une invitation aux rencontres et aux retrouvailles. À l’heure de la réouverture, le moment est venu pour Novus Art de vous ouvrir les portes de son Salon. Cet espace, dédié à notre passion pour l’art contemporain, est pensé comme un lieu d’échanges destiné à tous les différents acteurs du monde de l’art.
Susan Hiller, anthropologue de formation et de coeur, a longtemps fait de la société un des axes principaux de sa recherche. Elle est ici le point d’entrée de notre exposition où la silhouette de l’Homme est un motif récurrent. En effet, il revient constamment dans les peintures et les sculptures d’Antony Gormley portant sur la représentation de l’Homme dans l’espace, dans l’oeuvre de Chiharu Shiota qui explore le souvenir de la présence humaine, mais aussi sur le canapé de Susan Hiller où la multitude de cravates évoque une multitude d’individus.
…BUT IN WHAT KIND OF WORLD ?
Cependant, en nous révélant son « Genre d’Homme », Hiller va naturellement nous guider vers un questionnement plus large : Dans quel genre de monde vivons-nous et dans quel genre de monde voulons-nous vivre ? Face à une pandémie qui a sévèrement touché le secteur culturel, il nous a paru essentiel de présenter des pièces nourrissant cette réflexion pour ce grand retour à la vie.
À travers leurs sculptures, ces artistes témoignent alors avec sensibilité de l’environnement dans lequel ils ont évolué et les thèmes qui les ont animés. Les néons lumineux de Tracey Emin sont nés de l’observation de sa ville natale, les céramiques de Kimiyo Mishima sont inspirées de la société de consommation de son pays, les Signaux de Takis ont vu le jour lors de son voyage à Paris, et la peinture sculptée du maître taïwanais Richard Lin va de paire avec son intérêt pour l’architecture.
L’accrochage de « My Kind of Guy » est également l’occasion de réaffirmer que le monde de l’Homme est tout autant celui des femmes. En mettant en lumière les artistes féminines de notre collection, nous nous engageons pleinement à valoriser les femmes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, en vue de contribuer au monde de demain.