la sphère punk

This show at Le Magasin features three installations, all being seen in France for the first time. This exhibition is an indirect homage to the visual identity forged by the English and North American punk scenes in the 1970s and 80s, whose considerable influence on the visual arts has been mediated by a number of figures, Mike Kelley being the best known of these.

1. Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) & Jutta Koether

Reverse Karaoke, 2005 Mixed media: canvas, plaster, sequins, velvet, acrylic fur, various musical instruments, recording and video equipment. Courtesy Electra Productions, London.

Description of the installation: a tent painted by the two artists. Inside: lo-tech rehearsal equipment. Visitors are invited to make their own recordings around the pre-recorded voice of Kim Gordon, which they can accompany on the instruments set out for them (guitar, drums, percussion, etc.). Their song will be recorded live and two copies of the CD burned next to the tent. One of these CDs will become an integral part of the work, the other will be given to the visitor, who will also find materials to make their own cover.

Kim Gordon Born in Rochester in 1953, lives and works in New York. After art school, she moved to New York. This was the heyday of punk. Inspired, among others, by women artists and groups such as The Slits, The Raincoats and Lydia Lunch, she formed the group Sonic Youth with Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. Together, they made a total of 16 albums. She also worked with other groups (Free Kitten, The Breeders) as well as artists such as Raymond Pettibon, Dan Graham, Mike Kelley and Cameron Jamie. En 2005 she made an appearance in the Gus Van Sant film Last Days. Current projects include her own line of clothes, XGirl. Recent exhibitions: 2003: Participant Inc, New York Club in the Shadow (avec Jutta Koether), Kenny Schacter’s Contemporary Gallery, New York 2000: Kim’s Bedroom, Paris, Musée National d’Art Moderne

Jutta Koether Born in 1958, lives and works in New York. Selection of personal recent exhibitions: 2005: Simultanhalle, Cologne Tate Modern (avec Kim Gordon), Londres 2004: 371 Grand Street, New York 2002: Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln 1999: Pat Hearn Gallery, New York

2. Mike Kelley, Cary Loren & Jim Shaw (Destroy All Monsters)

Strange Früt : Rock Apocrypha, 2000-2001 Collective installation, 4 acrylics on canvas, 1 video. Artsits’ collection, Courtesy Patrick Painter Gallery, Santa Monica.

This collective installation is a homage to Detroit, where Mike Kelley, Cary Loren, Jim Shaw and Niagara founded the punk group Destroy all Monsters in the early 1970s. According to Mike Kelley, the paintings he and Jim Shaw made are “historical in that they take an interest in figures from the Detroit area subculture of the late 1960s and early 70s.” The two smallest paintings represent the founding members of the group and the legendary producer John Sinclair. Cary Loren’s video features archive films, TV excerpts and interviews documenting the Detroit music scene. “This local culture, which used to be marginalised and highly eccentric, has now become perfectly respectable, and even dominant,” observes Kelley. “We decided to make some large-scale history paintings about small-scale local history.”

Mike Kelley Born in Detroit in 1954, lives and works in Los Angeles.

Selection of personal recent exhibitions: 2005: Day is Done, Gagosian, New York 2004: The Uncanny, Tate Liverpool ; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung, Museum Ludwig, Wien 2003: The Poetics Project 1977-1997 (avec Tony Oursler), Barbican Center, London 2002: Metro Pictures, New York

Cary Loren Born in Detroit in 1955, lives and works in Detroit.

Jim Shaw Born in Midland, Michigan in 1952, lives and works in Los Angeles.

Selection of personal recent exhibitions: 2005: Patrick Painter Gallery, Santa Monica 2004: « 0 », Kunsthaus, Glarus 2003: Le MAGASIN-Cnac, Grenoble 2002: Massimo De Carlo Galleria, Milano 2001: Emily Tsingou Gallery, London

3. Linder (Morrissey, Buzzcocks) Graphics, photography and film by musician and artist Linder Sterling.

Linder Born 1954 in Liverpool. Lives and works near Morecambe, Lancashire. Known for her photographic collaborations with Morrissey as well as for her musical performances and photomontages, Linder Sterling played a major part in shaping the visual identity of the punk era in Britain. The biographer of the Sex Pistols, Jon savage, describes her as “the first radical feminist punk”. In 1977 she designed the cover of the Buzzcocks album Orgasm Addict and the following year, set up her own group, Ludus, with Ian Devine. Before they split up in 1983, Ludus produced six albums and played some memorable gigs at Manchester’s Hacienda Club, during which pornographic images were projected while Sterling appeared in a dress made of meat and the bar served “menstrual” cocktails called “Bloody Linders”. Since the early 1990s, a great deal of her work has been with Morrissey: she photographs his tours and produces images for his albums and videos. Morrissey invited her to give two performances at the Royal Festival Hall when he curated the 2004 Meltdown Festival.

Selection of personal exhibitions: 2004: The Lives of Women Dreaming, Futura Gallery, Prague 2000: The Return of Linderland, Cornerhouse, Manchester The Working Class Goes To Paradise, Manchester (performance) 1997: What Did You Do in the Punk War, Mummy ?, Cleveland Gallery, Londres

Selection of group exhibitions: 2003: Glamour, Windows Gallery, Prague 2001: DEAD, The Roundhouse, Londres 1998: Destroy: Punk Graphic Design in Great Britain, Royal Festival Hall, Londres

Pressetext

Replay: Sphere Punk
Esthétique des scènes musicales et artistiques

mit Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth) & Jutta Koether, Mike Kelley, Cary Loren & Jim Shaw, Linder Sterling (Morrissey, Buzzcocks)