Marina Abramovíc, Bertran Berrenger, Véronique Boudier, Serge Comte, Béatrice Cussol, Olivier Dollinger, Yan Duyvendak, Eric Duyckaerts, Dora Garcia, Liliana Moro, François Nouguiès, Catherine Poncin, Paul Pouvreau, David Renaud, Bojan Sarcevic, Frieda Schuman, Nathalie Talec, Franck & OlivierTurpin, Brigitte Zieger…

The starting point of this project stemmed from a simple, even fleeting observation, of a certain contemporary artistic production, more specifically in the field of visual arts, (but equally in the field of choreography), dramatising, staging, the territory of intimacy*.

Intimacy (already well-documented) is exposed, projected, exhibited. The artistic postures observed reveal a necessity to show oneself, to live, to create, experiences. It is the body of the artist himself which 'performs' this intrusion into reality. Maybe as a reaction to the virtual. This body reinvests space, intention, movement, by means of gesture.

The attitude of the artists exhibited in IN/EX-HIBITION is characteristic of a generation conscious of its position in the history of time. It does not show the need to replay the heroic strides made during the 60s and 70s. It profits from the results. Nevertheless, its attitude is more ambiguous: where previous generations chose to stay on the outskirts of the society of the spectacle, this one participates fully by proposing works which criticise it while always evading it.

In committing themselves personally these artists question their era: they stage 'intimacy', the propeller of our society, fascinated by questions such as those concerning identity, boundaries, minorities, the everyday (the television series 'Big Brother' is a recent example).

The 'I' figure here emerges and reincarnates itself. Its form of privileged representation is the autosuggestion of the video, seen simultaneously as a mode of expression and/or recording.

The actuality of the exhibitions shows that this medium has become with the passing of time a privileged mode of expression for contemporary artists (including those who work with living material). The organisers of exhibitions are captivated in the same way.

But of course. The video is omnipresent in our daily lives. For the artists it is primarily a work tool, then also a medium, showing itself to be simply the most appropriate to the formalisation of certain actions, certain projects.

Ambiguity, paradox, contradiction which all make the question of intimacy (which lies within) show itself, launch and expose itself, exhibit itself (to the outside). The Latin word exhibitio means literally 'to show to the outside'.

An entire question remains as to the visibility and therefore the accessibility of this type of work.

IN/EX-HIBITION unfolds in two superimposed areas of the 'Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire'. On the ground floor, the screen is seen as the only exhibition area.

A specific programme of videos will be shown in succession on one projection surface.

On the first floor, more conventionally, the videos will be shown on monitors. They will be juxtaposed with fixed image drawings, photographs and sculptures to facilitate the greatest possible exploration of the question of intimacy.

Claire Le Restif