Aranya Art Center is pleased to present the first major institutional exhibition of the renowned Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury in China.
Aranya Art Center is pleased to present the first major institutional exhibition of the renowned Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury in China. The exhibition brings together nearly thirty artworks that exemplify Fleury’s prolific and diverse artistic practice across a variety of mediums, spanning over three decades. The exhibition opened to the public on March 6 and is now extended through August 21, 2022.
Since the 1990s, Fleury has appropriated forms and languages of the luxury, fashion, and beauty industries in a style reminiscent of Pop Art and a manner both subversive and fun. Whether through the neon installations such as Modern Muse (2022) and Ô (2022), referencing existing fragrance products, or in the sculpture Chanel Shopping Bag (2008), which the artist herself coined as a “Warholian time capsule,” Fleury raises sharp questions about consumerism, capitalism, superficiality, and fetishism.
Instead of presenting a survey of Fleury’s artistic path in chronological order or under thematics, the exhibition lends itself to the systems of attraction inherent to retail. Works in each gallery are gathered to form an aesthetic coherence, to visually seduce the viewer. Art is an object of desire; an art institution, as an exhibition venue, is the “window display” of the circulation and exchange of objects and capital in the art world. Hence, Fleury’s site-specific approach could often be read as institutional critique—particularly here, since the building housing Aranya Art Center was initially designed to receive designer shops and concept stores.
Fleury’s works shine, but they do much more than simply attract; they revitalize fundamental conversations on art and are deeply embedded in art history. When Fleury magnifies makeup compacts at exaggerated scales to create paintings with a sculptural quality, these paintings, in turn, become abstract geometrical shapes. Oscillating between figuration and abstraction, Fleury’s works address questions of dimensionality and materiality in contemporary painting. In addition, Fleury’s use of original Formula One dress in Formula One Dress (1999) and locally sourced shoes and carpet in Untitled (2022) are testaments to the lineage of the readymade, a term first used by the French artist Marcel Duchamp at the beginning of the twentieth century. Fleury’s oeuvre is a loaded reference system, involving especially art movements that typically championed white male artists, such as Op Art and Minimalism. From Victor Vasarely’s optical illusions to Robert Gober’s leg sculptures, from Daniel Buren’s stripes to Donald Judd’s stacks, Fleury takes a decidedly feminist approach to her references. She “injects her yin into the yang” and renegotiates the politics of gender representation and writing in the history of modern and contemporary art. It is particularly interesting to see how Fleury targeted such “less-sellable” art genres that were initially unpopular but ultimately recuperated by the market, making auction headlines as a result. At first glance, her pop appropriation and minimalist aesthetics seem to contradict one another. As one ponders, they together offer a deeper look at the rules and laws of capitalist society.
Many call Fleury a “punk feminist.” The artist herself claimed that “it seems impossible to be an artist in today’s world without being a feminist.” In works such as Walking on Carl Andre (1997) and Drastic Makeup (2007), she turns the destruction of a fetishized object into something “inherently aesthetic and erotic.” However, in addition to punk negation, Fleury is an affirmative punk feminist. She seeks pleasure in driving and shopping. Her works are characterized by a controlled tension, a silent violence, but also an immense celebration of life. As cultural theorist Sut Jhally writes, “there is a moment in the objectification process that must be saved.” It’s clear that Fleury owns the spaces she occupies and has her own desire and objectification under total control. Aranya Art Center is proud to introduce Sylvie Fleury’s practice in China at this moment when heated discussions around gender issues are reshaping our society.
The exhibition is supported by Pro Helvetia Shanghai, Swiss Arts Council.
Special thanks to Salon 94 (New York) and Almine Rech (Paris, Brussels, London, New York, Shanghai).
Ding Yi
Three Flags
2023
Flag, air blower
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Chen Ruofan
Botanical Bank: 54 Objects Transplanted
2023
Stainless steel, LED, video
400 × 400 × 400 cm
55:92 min.
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Tom Friedman
Hazmat Love
2017
Stainless steel
150.5 × 118.1 × 107.3 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of the artist, Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong,
Seoul, London and aranya plein air art project
Haegue Yang
Migratory DMZ Birds on Asymmetric Lens - Duiitt Duiitt Vessel (Gray-Backed Thrush)
2020
Soapstone, 3D printed resin
158 × 89 × 147 cm
Installation view, aranya plein art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris
and aranya plein air art project
Prinz Gholam
Stone Faces (Jin Shan Ling)
2023
Stone
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
David Zink Yi
Washingtonia
2017
Stainless steel
520 × 100 × 100 cm each
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of the artist, KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin / Seoul
and aranya plein air art project
Richard Long
Four Ways
2014
Delabole Slate from Cornwall
490 × 498 × 58 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi© Richard Long
Courtesy of Lisson Gallery and aranya plein air art project
Robert Mapplethorpe
Self Portrait
1981
Silver gelatin print
58.5 × 61 × 3.2 cm (framed)
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
© Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. Used by permission.
Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, London · Paris · Salzburg · Seoul
Charles Ray
School Play
2014
Painted fiberglass
193 × 58 × 39 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
© Charles Ray
Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery and aranya plein air art project
Alina Chaiderov
Phoenix
2023
Stainless steel, cable protection tube
512 × 300 × 100 cm
Produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Liang Shuo
Little House
2023
Mosaic tiles
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Christine Sun Kim
A Permanent Tourist In A Foreign Language
2023
Inkjet printing on stainless-steel sign post
225 × 150 cm × 7 parts
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Vivian Suter
Untitled
Undated
Mixed media on canvas
Dimensions variable
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of the artist, Gladstone Gallery
and aranya plein air art project
Nabuqi
We
2023
3D printing resin, paint
235 × 146 × 75 cm
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun ShiCourtesy of aranya plein air art project
Sylvie Fleury
Giant Mushroom
2008
Fiberglass, metallic car paint
260 × 250 × 250 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of the artist, Almine Rech
and aranya plein air art project
Isabelle Cornaro
Untitled (column #2 & column #3)
2014
Steel structure with black resin castings
66 × 274 × 66 cm each
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Tony Cragg
Accurate Figure
2011
Carrara Marble
206 × 83 × 91 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Michelle Wang Yiyi
Red Berries
2023
Hawthorn berry, aluminum wire
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Zaiye Studio
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Chen Xiaoyi
Invisible Liquid
2023
UV print on aluminum plate
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Su Chang
Intersect
2023
Plaster, aluminate, hemp and other mixed materials
Dimensions variable
Commissioned and produced by aranya plein air art project 2023
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
Katinka Bock
Parasite Fountain
2019
Bronze, transparent PVC tube, water pump
Fish: 85 cm
Column: 300 × 30 cm
Installation view, aranya plein air art project
July 7th to October 29th, 2023
Photography Sun Shi
Courtesy of aranya plein air art project
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