2012 : The Suburbans, The Suburban, Chicago

“The Suburbans: Never before a girl done so much with so little” is a project conceived by Lucie Fontaine for The Suburban, Michelle Grabner and Brad Killam’s art-run-space. The project features artworks by, and, or, about Marco Boggio Sella, Mauro Bonacina, Valerio Rocco Orlando and Alessandro Roma. Playing with the idea of repetition and redundancy – but also with the notion of failure and with the desire of taking different positions at the same time – this project takes inspiration from the American movie The Suburbans. 

According to wikipedia: “The Suburbans is a 1999 comedy-drama that satirizes the 1980s revival hype around the turn of the 21st century. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Donal Lardner Ward, who also co-wrote and directed the movie. The Suburbans premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 1999. It was released on a very limited number of screens (11) on October 29 of the same year, and grossing $11,130, is considered to have failed commercially. Of nine reviews counted at Rotten Tomatoes, all nine are negative.” 

Again according to wikipedia this is plot of the movie: “In 1998 Danny, Mitch, Gil and Rory, formerly known as long-forgotten, early 80s one-hit wonder The Suburbans, reunite to perform their only hit single at one of the band members’ wedding. After the gig Cate, an up-and-coming record company executive, approaches them and suggests to shoot a pay per view reunion show that would eventually re-establish the band’s claim to fame. The four, more reluctantly than not, agree and subsequently face the ramifications on their personal lives as the show’s production contrasts their former rock ‘n’ roll image with their now middle-class, suburban life style. It soon becomes evident that Cate is probably the only remaining fan of the band, who, out of a personal interest in the matter, put her own career at stake.”

Following these premises Lucie Fontaine invited the four artists – like the four members of the band – to exhibit their works. As a response to their participation Lucie Fontaine also created artworks that are meant to celebrate them, generating a mixture that aims to blur the boundaries between solo and group show, between art making and exhibition organizing, between being singular and plural.