Exhibitions

The "Nœuds de Janu"s exhibition gather together a set of new works by Jean-Michel Othoniel.

The artist's desire to escape from the hieratic aspect of his work and figure or freeze motion while approaching a certain abstraction is pregnant in this exhibition. It develops "the question of the absent body. This is about creating volumes of absence, constructions of variable dimensions where bodies could curl in ". 

At the entrance of the exhibition, a black and silver beads suspension spins endlessly. The hanging sculpture entitled Nœud de Lacan, 2009, materializes the psychoanalytic theory of the Borromean knot that structures the subject by this delicate balance between the Real, the Symbolic and the Imaginary. Bicolour Lassos are inspired by Minimalism sculpture and concetto spaziale, especially Fontana’s Spatial Light (1951), by their complex convolutions. The work Les Lacets bleus, 2009, placed on a pedestal and not suspended as the necklaces are, is a continuation of pieces as Rivière blanche, an artwork created in 2004 for the Mesopotamian halls of the Louvre - acquired by the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris ARC- or Peggy's necklace shown in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice in 2006. The series of works on paper - conducted by Michael Woodworth’s workshop in Paris - introduce "the idea of movement, real rebounds, ricochets, imaginary desires and knotted heart.

As part of the exhibition, Dilecta Editions and Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin published the artist's book Les Nœuds de Janus.

The he Monaco Project for the Arts association presents the work of Jean-Michel Othoniel with the exhibition « Un Cœur abstrait » with 6 monumental sculptures including a piece specially created for the occasion.

In the gardens, patio, exhibition halls and classrooms, works, necklaces, but also more abstract forms towards which the artist tend to go. The work of the artist for the last 3 years, interacts with this original place dedicated to the learning and art education. Established since 2004 on the Rock of Monaco, l’Ecole Supérieure d’Arts Plastiques de la Ville de Monaco overlooks the harbor and opens up to the sea.

The Monaco Project for the Arts was created in order to closely link Art and Education. It allows its members to be part of a true cultural network and is a platform for meetings, exchanges between artists, students, collectors and institutions by appointment, colloquiums, conferences, but also travel scholarships, internships and artistic collaborations.

Besides the organization of the exhibition, the Monaco Project for the Arts association, supported Jean-Michel Othoniel’s work with the publication of the book Un Cœur abstrait, published by Actes Sud in the same year. A long interview with Bernard Marcadé illuminates the issues of the exhibition which claims to be a retrospective look on this turning point towards which the art of Jean-Michel Othoniel is now « switching », a time of research and fragility.

Artists, architects and designers createvely express their thoughts and ideas through a new medium - glass. Their contemporary artworks are proof positive of the limitless possibilities inherent in glass.

For this exhibition, Jean-Michel Othoniel shows Le ricochet rouge, the rebound of a red bead frozen in the glass. This artwork takes inspiration in Muybridge and Duchamp’s researches on movement and perfectly points out the abstract way in which Jean-Michel Othoniel’s work is currently going.

The Karsten Greve Gallery exhibits successively in Cologne and St. Moritz, Jean-Michel Othoniel's most recent works that goes to show his researches on movement and the increasingly marked direction towards abstraction that his work engages.