ART PARIS 2024
For this new edition of Art Paris 2024, and following the “Art & Craft” theme initiated by Nicolas Trembley, Galerie Eric Mouchet is delighted to present works by Wells Chandler (b. 1985, USA), Samir Mougas (b. 1980, France), Louis-Cyprien Rials (b. 1981, France) and, for the first time, Miron Schmückle (b. 1966, Romania).
With tenderness and admiration, Wells Chandler revisits major works of art history (Matthias Grünewald’s The Issenheim Altarpiece in his first solo show at the Galerie in 2020, or most recently Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe…) and reinterprets them in a contemporary reading through the prism of intersectional struggles. Wells Chandler is a “painter” who uses traditional techniques such as crochet and vernacular materials such as synthetic wool and dyed fabrics. The artist creates imaginary characters and whimsical compositions that disrupt references and mix patterns, simply and joyfully, without losing sight of topical issues, notably the struggle for greater acceptance of marginalized minorities.
The works of Louis-Cyprien Rials from the Afghan War Rugs series, presented in his latest solo show at Galerie Eric Mouchet in September 2023, constitute another very different example of the use of textiles in engaged contemporary art. These works are iconoclastic reinterpretations of the “war rugs” woven in Afghanistan during the Soviet and American invasions. Louis-Cyprien Rials hijacks the traditional motifs of these carpets (World Trade Center, Soviet or American tanks and planes) to recall France’s presence in Afghanistan (Uzbin ambush) or the geopolitical and mafia issues at stake in this country (Destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, poppy cultivation); on another carpet, drones are depicted against a blue background, underlined by the phrase “I no longer love blue skies”, spoken by a child victim of an air strike. Louis Cyprien Rials’ work is currently on show at the Biennale de Liège, and will be exhibited at the Fondation Le Corbusier (Paris) in 2024, then at the Institut Français in Baghdad and as part of the UNESCO-sponsored restoration of the city of Mosul.
As part of our “Art & Craft” theme, we are also presenting ceramic pieces by the artist Samir Mougas, who is currently presenting a solo show at Galerie Eric Mouchet-Paris, entitled “Human Experience: Food Systems”. The artist draws his inspiration from forms that are visually defined by industrial design (hubcaps, dispensers, etc.) and the food industry. He reinvents other, more absurd forms, with the help of 3D micro-creation software (a few years ago) and, more recently, Artificial Intelligence. He digests them into his own drawings before turning them into sculptures in a variety of materials, from ceramics to synthetic resins. Samir Mougas’ works, genuine curiosities whose contours are nevertheless familiar to us without being able to identify their provenance, can be found in the collections of the FRACs Île de France, Pays de la Loire, Normandie and Bretagne.
As a highlight of this stand, we are showing for the first time works by Miron Schmückle, an artist whose only means of escape during his youth in Romania was to invent in paint an imaginary garden inspired by ancient art. His virtuosity and the Latin titles of his sophisticated works lure and trap the viewer into believing they are something they are not. Hidden behind apparent botanical illustrations, the beauty of nature reveals itself to be the fruit of the artist’s pure imagination. Miron Schmückle invents an artificial life made of flowers, vines, leaves and fruit that do not belong to the Earth. Miron Schmückle’s works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany and abroad, and form part of many European and American public and private collections. His solo exhibition “Flesh for Fantasy” can still be seen at Frankfurt’s Städel Museum until April 14, 2024.
MORE INFORMATIONS:
ART PARIS ART FAIR
Grand Palais Ephémère
Stand B3
From April 04 to 07, 2024
// artparis.com