From 9 June to 29 July, Galerie XII Paris presents Une certaine idée du bonheur, the new exhibition by artist duo Clark and Pougnaud. On show are works from their iconic series alongside previously unseen pieces from the Fetish and A Poils series.
Since the 1990s, Clark and Pougnaud have formed a duo with a well-established modus operandi. Revealed by their ‘Hommage à Hopper’ project, which won them the HSBC Prize and the Archimboldo Prize, the artists fuse their two techniques in a theatrical aesthetic. Virginie Pougnaud makes and paints sets, while Christophe Clark photographs them. Certain elements, objects or characters are photographed separately and then added to the set. Their images may appear to be simple portraits, but in reality they are strange and sophisticated stagings. Over the years, the sets have been stripped down to their essentials. With the series Eden, une saison au Paradis, exhibited at Chaumont-sur-Loire in 2021-2022, they are making a break with the past, abandoning post-production techniques in favour of shooting installations. Fetish (2020-2021), inspired by heterogeneous collections of objects, continues this research in a post-surrealist aesthetic. A Poils (2023), a variation on the theme of skin, returns to the use of models.
Clark and Pougnaud create atmospheres rather than images. They invite us to take a dreamlike stroll, to contemplate, to explore our own imaginations in a fast-moving society.
Clark & Pougnaud
Clark and Pougnaud are a couple of French artists, respectively painter and photographer. Pougnaud comes from a family of artists and has been involved in the art world from an early age. Clark grew up in the world of photography. He was his father’s assistant before opening his own studio in the 1980s. It was in the 1990s that they formed their duo: Pougnaud thinks up the stagings, makes and paints the sets, Clark photographs them. Certain elements, objects or characters are photographed separately and then inserted into the sets. Their work reflects a singular cross-disciplinary approach: painting, models and photography. Their work is resolutely contemporary, in the technique used, the choice of characters, the flat tones of colour and the acute sense of mise-en-scène. Their approach is also deeply influenced by twentieth-century pictorial references, such as Edward Hopper, René Magritte and surrealism.
Clark and Pougnaud were awarded the Arcimboldo prize for digital creation in 2000, followed by an exhibition at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, and in 2006, the HSBC Prize for Photography.
Galerie XII Paris
Galerie XII Paris, formerly Galerie Photo12, was founded in 2007 by Valérie-Anne Giscard d’Estaing and specialises in contemporary figurative photography.
A member of the Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art, the gallery promotes artists with a strong pictorialist sensibility, working on new forms of the medium with a multidisciplinary approach, notably on the borders with painting, sculpture and collage.
Galerie XII Paris organises in-house exhibitions, contributes to the dissemination of works by organising exhibitions in partner institutions and galleries through its “Hors Les Murs” programme, and takes part in international fairs such as Paris Photo, Photo London, Photo Basel, Art Paris Art Fair, Photo Shanghai, Photo L.A. and Moderne Art Fair. The Gallery has also expanded internationally with the opening of a new space in the United States in 2018.
14 rue des Jardins Saint-Paul 75004 Paris
Tuesday-Friday: 2pm-7pm Saturday: 12pm-7pm
& by appointment outside these hours
www.galeriexii.com
Information
Galerie XII Paris
10 et 14 rue des Jardins Saint-Paul, Paris 3e
June 09, 2023 to July 29, 2023
