Robert Barry, On Kawara, Leigh Ledare, Allan McCollum, Mathieu Mercier, Annette Messager - Sexe, béatitude et logique comptable - Exhibitionmfc-michèle didier | Paris - Brussels - PARIS

Exhibition from Friday February 13 to Saturday March 7, 2015
Opening on February 12, 2015 from 6pm to 9pm

Sexe, béatitude et logique comptable (sex, beatitude and accounting logic): Mathieu Mercier has selected works that seem very much opposed. On one hand, he chooses some of the many conceptual artworks in mfc-michèle didier's collection, of which the serial and repetitive character can cause a particular psychological state of mind, close to beatitude or trance. A form of modified state of consciousness. On the other hand, he confronts these with art works that reveal a much more sensual nature, erotic even, such as Double Bind by Leigh Ledare or Mes dessins secrets by Annette Messager.

« Michèle Didier and Emanuele Quinz*, who know my great interest for published works, have invited me to imagine an exhibition based on Michèle Didier's previously published editions. I thought it would be interesting to work on two motifs characteristic of her program, which seem completely opposed at first glance. The question will be to confront in an intelligible and sensible way the incongruous combination of serial and minimal artworks with erotic rudimentary representations. » Mathieu Mercier, excerpt of the interview given to L'Officiel, published in issue of September 2014.

Two styles will be confronted at mfc-michèle didier gallery with the following works:

Logique comptable (accounting logic):
- One Billion Colored Dots by Robert Barry
- One Million Years by On Kawara
- Trilogy by On Kawara
- The Book of Shapes by Allan McCollum

Sexe et béatitude (sex and beatitude):
- Double Bind by Leigh Ledare
- Mes dessins secrets by Annette Messager
- Journal by Mathieu Mercier

Journal, a new edition by Mathieu Mercier, produced by mfc-michèle didier, will be presented in preview at this occasion. It will consist of a limited edition newspaper, containing a series of nude photographs, all coming from Mathieu Mercier private collection. Where do these images come from? From a lost paradise? Mathieu Mercier tries to provide an answer. «These images are fascinating as they don't reveal any stylistic indication - the models don't have any cloths nor accessory and the scene always shows an exterior, rural decor. Nonetheless, we can guess the era thanks to the women's hairstyle, the way they pose and the quality of the picture. Even if they give the impression of a lost paradise, they clearly seem dated...»** This new art work by Mathieu Mercier will enrich the exhibition.

* Emanuele Quinz is an art historian and independent curator. He is lecturer at Université Paris 8 and associate research professor at EnsadLab. Emanuele Quinz collaborates to the exhibition Sexe, béatitude et logique comptable. Inauguration of series of proposals imagined by Michèle Didier and Emanuele Quinz for which artists and designers are invited to confront themselves with the collection of artworks produced and published by mfc-michèle didier. The idea is not to display the collection as an ensemble of objects, nor to reactivate the works or protocols, but rather to conceive extensions of the works and to let them resonate in a new way.
** Excerpt of Emanuele Quinz's interview of Mathieu Mercier in December 2014 in Paris.