LUCIE FONTAINE

 
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2013 : F+P+P+P+T, MK Search Art, san giovanni valdarno


http://www.mksearchart.com/







MK Search Art is glad to present a ‘solo show’ by Lucie Fontaine. Often defined a “singularity behind which a plurality of individuals is hidden”, Lucie Fontaine exists between reality and fiction, between singular and plural and for these reasons the use of the word ‘solo’ becomes an interesting stretching. If dubious is the existence of Lucie Fontaine even more is the identity of those who, under the name of Lucie Fontaine, have created the objects that constitute this show – three, like the three rooms of the MK Search Art space in the historical center of San Giovanni Valdarno.

Senza titolo, the first work conceived for this project is linked to the history of San Giovanni Valdarno and its relationship to the history of art and in particular to the Renaissance. In fact, Masaccio (1401-1428) was born in this town and he was among the first artists to experiment a new pictorial style that broke with the rules of bi-dimensional representation. At the same time Lucie Fontaine decided to pay homage to this protagonist of the history of art also because of his nickname. Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone was his real name and Masaccio is a mixture between Maso, a short version of Tommaso, and “accio,” which is the Italian pejorative suffix. The interest for an artist whose name becomes meaning, as for Lucie Fontaine’s name that can be objectified into “fountain of light,” is in this case manifested in the appropriation of an image of the detail of one of the frescoes that Masaccio created for the Brancacci Chapel – located inside the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence – in which the artist portrayed himself next to other masters of that time: Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti and Masolino.

Masaccio’s desire to represent himself next to his fellows is connected to the second work included in the show. Focaccia + Panino + Pizza + Pretzel + Tarallo refers to a series of nicknames used by the employees of Lucie Fontaine. By using the gastronomic vocabulary and in particular different types farinaceous products, full of carbohydrates, these individuals linked to Lucie Fontaine present an ironical reading of their fictitious and mysterious operations. At the same time this artwork becomes a philosophical reflection on the concepts of ideation and creation, here metaphorically represented through the relationship between the dough – raw, malleable, shapeless – and its products. In strong opposition with the theoretical roots of this work is its simplicity of literal materialization, which consists of a plinth on which a piece of flatbread, a loaf of bread, a pizza, a pretzel and a taralli are displayed.

The third work is part of series presented in different occasions. The work entitled Il Cangiante (omaggio a Corrado Levi) has two elements, one always the same and one always different. The invariable element is the presence of thirty silk red roses while the variable element is the vase in which the roses are presented, which changes according to the person who decides to exhibit this work. Again conceived as a celebration of collective labor, or rather of “multiple” labor, this work is a homage to the figure of Corrado Levi, architect, artist, collector, teacher, who when he organized the exhibition “Il Cangiante” [the iridescent] at PAC in Milan in 1986, he decided to exhibit thirty red roses, an act with multiple interpretations that perfectly summarizes his position between different roles of working creatively.

In the last five years Lucie Fontaine has conceived projects for T293 in Naples, Fruit and Flower Deli in Stockholm, Galeria Sabot in Cluj-Napoca, Various Small Fires and Anat Ebgi in Los Angeles, Marianne Boesky Gallery in New York, Galerie Perrotin in Paris, Iaspis in Stockholm and Artport in Tel Aviv. In the last five years Lucie Fontaine has hosted more than thirty projects in her space in Milan as well as in its related satellites in Stockholm and Tokyo.








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