Exhibitions

Venue: Centre d’art Mira Phalaina/Maison Poulaire, Montreuil

Dates: 24th April–30th June 2007

Preview: 23rd April 2007, 6pm

Notes: Curated by Aurélie Voltz. With Alexandra Bircken, Dani Jakob, Pierre Malphettes

Setting greater store by direct discovery and dialog, the show ‘L’homme nu’ (The Naked Man) features works that have been grouped under the theme of an anthropological reading. The idea here is to rediscover forms and cultures, both ancestral and contemporary, with a particular focus on humanity. The representation, environment and lifestyle of humans form the three parts of this program. In their abstract, concrete, imaginary or poetic way, in situ artworks, sculptures, drawings and objects contribute to transforming the face of a multicolored universal landscape. This blend of cultures and the analysis of their mechanisms are an echo of the overarching theme of hospitality proposed by TRAM.

Borrowed from Claude Lévi-Strauss, the title ‘L’homme nu’ proposes to view man in his simplest state, as a kind of dummy to be dressed, with the different layers playing the role of succeeding impressions of civilizations, cultures, community practices, or social mores. This is man viewed in terms of influences that range indifferently from the familiar to the exotic geographically or historically. Anthropology is taken here as more than a subject and is treated in a roundabout way. Like a new manner of seeing, it brings to light a certain number of works that involve a sensitive approach to humans. In this regard, the featured artists, who come from very different worlds and do not necessarily share the same view of human society, have been brought together through the works presented here.

After ‘Allures anthropomorphes’ (Anthropomorphic Appearances) devoted to human representation, the second volume of the trilogy, called ‘Visited Landscapes’, confronts different types of natures, horizons, areas, each of them betraying its own way their occupants : the ones who forged them, shaped them, inhabited them, or simply crossed them. If man is obviously away, his presence can be guessed halfway between fauna and flora. Giving greater place to installations, the exhibition will spread out around a gigantic tree (Pierre Malphettes), a ¬´ hand-knitted¬ª miniature landscape (Alexandra Bircken) and a dried salt sea, wishing to expand (Dani Jakob). As much pieces of nature inhabited by strange beasts.

Centre d’Art Mira Phalaina, Maison Populaire 9 bis rue Dombasle - 93100 Montreuil T. 01 42 87 08 68 - www.maisonpop.fr

Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday / 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday / 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday / Closed Sunday, holidays and from 25 February to 4 March 2007. Metro line 9. Stop: Mairie de Montreuil

President: Marie-Thérèze Cazanave / director: Annie Agopian Coordination: Anne Desmazieres : annedesmazieres@maisonpop.fr

The Maison Populaire is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communication/DRAC Ile-de-France, the Conseil general of Seine-Saint-Denis, the town of Montreuil. The Maison Populaire is a member of the TRAM network.