ESPACE PRIVÉ: Avec Marcel Bascoulard Hans Bellmer Luciano Castelli Robert Heinecken Michel Journiac Edouard Levé PIerre Molinier Thomas Ruff Cindy Sherman Miroslav Tichy

« People wanted to see me as a libertine, alcoholic, addict, neurotic, surrealist, unstable, homosexual, seducer of young girls... »
Hans Bellmer.

On the occasion of Paris Photo, Galerie Christophe Gaillard presents the exhibition Espace Privé (Private Sp ace).Gathered around Hans Bellmer’s book Die Puppe, 1966, the photographic works of Pierre Molinier, Robert Heinecken, Édouard Levé, Cindy Sherman, Marcel Bascoulard or Luciano Castelli all wreak confusion and explore suggestive situations. They constrain bodies in order to make them fit into their fantasies and subdue them. The arbitrary nature of desire. Bodies fold and unfold.

The Ball Joint theory upon which Bellmer built his doll has found its followers : « In order for such a doll, filled with emotional content but suspected of being merely a representation, a fictitious reality, to go out into the world, face the shock of encounters, and find evidence of its own existence... »
This text was written by Hans Bellmer for the catalogue of the Surrealist International Exhibition in 1947.

In 1955 Breton wrote to Molinier :
«Today, you’ve become the master of vertigo. Your photographs don’t leave a shadow of a doubt as to your aspirations and it seems difficult to me to be more troubling. They are as beautiful as they are scandalous. Your work provokes a never ending thrill that enables me to assess their magical power. I love your scorched and heartbreaking climate».

This comment could apply to any and all artists presented here.

Christophe Gaillard.