Opening in the presence of the artist on Saturday, November 29th from 7pm to 9pm.

PRESS RELEASE

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac is pleased to announce Sylvie Fleuryʼs fourth solo-show at the gallery, featuring new works and the video of a performance that will have taken place in the exhibition space before opening to the public.

Most renowned for her installations of shopping bags, Gucci yoga mats, brand-name shoes and cans of Slim-Fast, Sylvie Fleury has been exploring fashion branding and how it relates to the art world during the past two decades. Not lacking in humour, her pop works of art borrow from the worlds of fashion and design, transforming a common mushroom sculpture into a shiny object of desire. Fleury makes use of a variety of media, from painting, photography and sculpture to installation and video, to create her universe that parodies and celebrates the interrelationship between consumerism, identity, fashion and art.

The fusion of separate worlds, such as the feminine and the masculine, is also a preoccupation for the artist. Fleury has concentrated on the world of automobiles, coating cars with nail varnish or lipstick, thus redefining her audienceʼs perceptions of a stereotypically masculine theme. By playfully manipulating objects that are characteristically associated with either gender, Fleury explores the theme of identity in terms of sex.

From an art historical point of view, Fleury has used and cited iconic works by 20th century avant-garde artists. She has glued patches of coloured carpet onto a Mondrian grid; they walk on a Carl André floor work; replaced Joseph Kosuthʼs dictionary definitions with beauty tips. On the other hand, she has used Pucci print to create geometric abstract paintings and covered gallery walls with wall paintings using perfume brand names.

Fleury has produced an extensive oeuvre, incorporating an array of themes, her ideas constantly evolving to encompass new interests, from projects that focus on Zen practices and personal development to Science fiction. Regarding her work, Eric Troncy, French curator and critic, wrote “...she has created a singular universe, half-way between the world we live in and the one that is depicted in Z movies [low budget films].”

Sylvie Fleury (b. 1961) lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland. Her work has been widely shown in Europe and in the United States. Three Flying Saucers were presented outdoors at the Printemps de September in Toulouse (26 September – 19 October 2008). The MAMCO in Geneva is devoting a retrospective exhibition of her work until January 25th, 2009. Her work is included in major museum collections world wide as well as prestigious private collections.

For press inquiries, please contact Alessandra Bellavita, [email protected].

To obtain visual elements, please contact Zahra KH-Alam, [email protected].