Valentin Carron “And So America Opened Up”

Galerie Eva Presenhuber

poster for Valentin Carron “And So America Opened Up”

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Eva Presenhuber presents And So America Opened Up, the gallery’s eighth solo exhibition by the Swiss artist Valentin Carron.

For this exhibition in New York, Valentin Carron has brought together a series of works created since 2009. The works on view include reconstructions of modernist reliefs, sculptures, stained glass pieces, a vast ensemble of brass instruments that have been brutally reduced to decorative elements, wrought iron gates, two videos, and a Giacometti-style iconic, provocative hand. All works are gathered together under the title, And So America Opened Up. At a very special moment in his artistic career and in a context whose future no one yet dares to predict, Carron has allowed himself a courageous and uncompromising retrospective vision toward his oeuvre.

Carron’s work is defined by a fascination for modernity and its decay. To him, there is no doubt that a formal vocabulary was developed in the 20th century and that this infuses all areas of our everyday life, particularly the vernacular. The elements that catch Carron’s eye, he finds in his immediate vicinity—in the squares of small towns, in front of administrative buildings of little importance, or rundown public places. These fragments are all replete with potential modernist references. Far from any center, they represent many testimonies of a modern dream left in tatters. An artist studying them, reproducing them in different materials (but to scale), and, above all, inserting them into exhibition spaces —just as one would do with plants that cannot withstand winter—are gestures that are both benevolent and disillusioned. As he browses the tarmacked areas of our public parks, Carron laughs at nothing, corrects nothing, values nothing, and keeps a slightly hopeless feeling of loss alive in us.

Media

Schedule

from March 18, 2022 to April 22, 2022

Artist(s)

Valentin Carron

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