What is a encounter? At a time when the health crisis and the current epidemiological context are forcing us to distance ourselves socially, it seemed important to return to the very notion of encounter. Thus this conversation initiated with Jean-Charles de Quillacq attempts to evoke the encounter as an autonomous component of his work – as a place, an event, a phenomenon, a material in its own right.
In particular, it will be a question of prostheses with relational characteristics around which to find oneself, of a full mask, of the reproduction of tears artificially stimulated with pepper-based tear gels applied to the eyelids or, to put it another way, of a certain form of mechanisation of feelings, but also of Paul B Preciado's Contra-Sexual Manifesto, of the mark of the penultimate chapter of Monique Wittig's La Pensée Straight, of the new novel, of bodies and speaking subjects, of a plural "I" or even an increased "I", of supplements also called support bars or handles covered with contaminated epoxy resin, of living doubles, of the automation of the relationship with the work or of unstable internet connections, of some authors who speak for us and finally Autofonction – the artist's next solo exhibition at the Marcelle Alix gallery visible by appointment.
Born in 1979, Jean-Charles de Quillacq studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon and at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin. Since 2011, when he was resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, he has been working with epoxy resin, which he kneads as "psychic matter". It incorporates other substances such as nicotine, urine, fish fats, Viagra, or blue ink from ballpoint pens. This exacting work of the mouth underlines the importance of the performative aspect and orality in its practice, which is almost buccal. He develops sets of sculptures that are both conceptual and fetishistic (extract from the publication Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, Editions Sombres torrents, 2019).
Arlène Berceliot Courtin
Arlène Berceliot Courtin is an independent curator and art critic, doctoral student in American studies at the Centre de Recherches Anglophones – Université Paris Nanterre, member of the board of directors of CEA (Association française des Commissaires d'Exposition), AICA France (Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art), IKT (International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art) and founder of furiosa – the first experimental office based in Monaco dedicated to art research and the analysis of different exhibition concepts initiated since the 1960s. Its main vocation is to develop an analytical and reflexive approach to the methods of dissemination of contemporary art and curatorial practices within the Principality and internationally.
Over the last ten years, she has collaborated and organised exhibitions in numerous public and private institutions, including Galerie des Galeries – Galeries Lafayette, Air de Paris, Shanaynay, Galerie Allen, Moins Un, La Salle de Bains, and regularly contributes to the specialist press in France and Europe. In 2019, she is a laureate of the Insitut français's Sur Mesure Residency Program for which she is initiating research in the United States on the influence of the literary theories of the New Novel in the choreographic and cinematographic work of the American avant-garde Yvonne Rainer at the archives of New York University – French Literature, Thought and Culture Department – New York, The Getty Research Institute – Los Angeles and l'Institut Mémoire de l'Edition Contemporaine – France.
Jean-Charles de Quillacq, born in 1979, is a recipient of the Visual Arts Committees of the Cité internationale des arts who lives and works in Zurich. He studied art at the School of Fine Arts in Lyon and at the Weißensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin.
He develops conceptual and fetishistic sculpture ensembles, which he usually shows by inviting others to take over the exhibition with him.
Since 2011, when he was resident at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Jean-Charles de Quillacq has been working with epoxy resin, which he kneads tirelessly as a "psychic material".
Jean-Charles de Quillacq has taken part in numerous group exhibitions, notably at the Fondation d'entreprise Ricard (Paris, 2014), the Villa Arson (Nice, 2015), and the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, 2019).
His work has also been the subject of solo exhibitions, including Ma système reproductive à Bétonsalon (Paris, 2019).
He has just released a book published by Editions Sombres torrents, in which he talks with Elsa Vettier about the different aspects of his work and his relationship with her.