Jean-Charles de Quillacq
BEMIS CENTER
Jean-Charles de Quillacq presents an archipelago of recent and reconfigured works, including a video of the artist at work playing synchronically on two back-to-back monitors suspended from the ceiling, and a new site-responsive sculpture (Armpit) incorporating one of the galleries’ distinctive columns. Coated with a thick layer of amber petroleum jelly discretely spattered with axilla hair—harvested by the artist from a local donor recruited on Tinder—the column is given a skin. De Quillacq’s gesture thus mobilizes this structural feature of the exhibition space, drawing attention to one of its “bones” and to the relationships between bodies and architecture.
De Quillacq’s work expands both the limits and status of the body in critical ways, starting with the dissolution of the borders between self and other and the celebration of fluid intimacies between the living and non-living. In several works, the distinction between artist and work vanishes, welcoming visitors to a realm of equivalencies—between materials; the body as agent and matter; labor, desire, work, and art. Since these equivalencies are elaborative, de Quillacq’s works are neither unique nor finished: infinitely replicable, renamable, and reconfigurable, one work can stand for another, becoming it before it goes on to its next figuration. Locating the body at the intersection of biological, material, and libidinal economies, de Quillacq work expands on corporeal hospitality through omniphilia.
UB ART GALLERIES
Jean-Charles de Quillacq presents an archipelago of new and recent works, including the site-responsive Ma Sis T’Aime Reproductive, which incorporates a distinctive, yet subtle, architectural feature of the gallery: a circular engaged column nestled between the institution’s administrative and exhibitionary spaces. As gallery staff regularly coat part of the work with a solution based on the artist’s sweat, the column’s skin becomes more present visually and olfactorily. A slightly odorous stain grows, as if one and many had been leaning on this spot, leaving a waist-to-shoulder imprint of their backs. De Quillback’s gesture thus mobilizes this structural feature of the institution, drawing attention to one of its “bones” and to the relationships between bodies and architecture.
De Quillacq’s work expands the limits and status of the body in critical ways, starting with the dissolution of the borders between self and other and the celebration of fluid intimacies between the living and non-living. In several works, the distinction between artist and work vanishes, welcoming visitors to a realm of equivalencies—between materials; the body as agent and matter; labor, desire, work, and art. These equivalencies are elaborative and de Quillacq’s works are infinitely replicable, renamable, and reconfigurable. None is ever unique or finished: one can stand for another, becoming it before it goes on to its next figuration. Locating the body at the intersection of biological, material, and libidinal economies, de Quillacq work expands on corporeal hospitality through omniphilia.
BIOGRAPHY
Jean-Charles de Quillacq’s sculptures and performances are both conceptual and fetishistic. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions in institutions across Europe, including Art 3, Valence, France (2021); Bétonsalon, Paris (2019); La Galerie in Noisy-le-Sec, France (2018); and the Swiss Art Awards, Basel, where he was one of the winners (2017). De Quillacq is also known for his performances, including Le Remplaçant and L’Imitation par les larmes, Les Ateliers de Rennes, France (2018); Faire Elle, Triangle, Marseille (2018); and Fraternité Passivité Bienvenue, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016). He has taken part in several group exhibitions, including Histoires vraies, Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France (2023); Nous sommes tous des lichens, Musée d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, France (2022); Des corps, des écritures. Regards sur l’art d’aujourd’hui, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2022); Les Envoûtés, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (2021); Children Power 3, Le plateau, FRAC île-de-france, Paris (2021); Troubles Tropiques, Centre Trouble à Plomb, Brussels (2021); Helmhaus, Zurich (2021); Matter of Art Biennial, Prague (2020); Future, ancient, fugitive, Palais de Tokyo (2019); and À Cris Ouverts, Rennes Biennial (2018).
PROGRAMS
PRESS
RESOURCES
ESSAYS
Sylvie Fortin, “Surrogacy, Money Shots, and Bit Rot,” Art/Agenda, June 18, 2021.
Sylvie Fortin, “Visqueen Lumisol Clear: Jean-Charles de Quillacq” TextWork, May 2020.
REVIEWS
Lotte Arndt, “Jean-Charles de Quillacq,” Art3, May 17, 2021.
Mara Hoberman, “Paris: Jean-Charles de Quillacq,” Artforum, July 2020.
Jean-Charles de Quillacq
BEMIS CENTER
Jean-Charles de Quillacq presents an archipelago of recent and reconfigured works, including a video of the artist at work playing synchronically on two back-to-back monitors suspended from the ceiling, and a new site-responsive sculpture (Armpit) incorporating one of the galleries’ distinctive columns. Coated with a thick layer of amber petroleum jelly discretely spattered with axilla hair—harvested by the artist from a local donor recruited on Tinder—the column is given a skin. De Quillacq’s gesture thus mobilizes this structural feature of the exhibition space, drawing attention to one of its “bones” and to the relationships between bodies and architecture.
De Quillacq’s work expands both the limits and status of the body in critical ways, starting with the dissolution of the borders between self and other and the celebration of fluid intimacies between the living and non-living. In several works, the distinction between artist and work vanishes, welcoming visitors to a realm of equivalencies—between materials; the body as agent and matter; labor, desire, work, and art. Since these equivalencies are elaborative, de Quillacq’s works are neither unique nor finished: infinitely replicable, renamable, and reconfigurable, one work can stand for another, becoming it before it goes on to its next figuration. Locating the body at the intersection of biological, material, and libidinal economies, de Quillacq work expands on corporeal hospitality through omniphilia.
UB ART GALLERIES
Jean-Charles de Quillacq presents an archipelago of new and recent works, including the site-responsive Ma Sis T’Aime Reproductive, which incorporates a distinctive, yet subtle, architectural feature of the gallery: a circular engaged column nestled between the institution’s administrative and exhibitionary spaces. As gallery staff regularly coat part of the work with a solution based on the artist’s sweat, the column’s skin becomes more present visually and olfactorily. A slightly odorous stain grows, as if one and many had been leaning on this spot, leaving a waist-to-shoulder imprint of their backs. De Quillback’s gesture thus mobilizes this structural feature of the institution, drawing attention to one of its “bones” and to the relationships between bodies and architecture.
De Quillacq’s work expands the limits and status of the body in critical ways, starting with the dissolution of the borders between self and other and the celebration of fluid intimacies between the living and non-living. In several works, the distinction between artist and work vanishes, welcoming visitors to a realm of equivalencies—between materials; the body as agent and matter; labor, desire, work, and art. These equivalencies are elaborative and de Quillacq’s works are infinitely replicable, renamable, and reconfigurable. None is ever unique or finished: one can stand for another, becoming it before it goes on to its next figuration. Locating the body at the intersection of biological, material, and libidinal economies, de Quillacq work expands on corporeal hospitality through omniphilia.
BIOGRAPHY
Jean-Charles de Quillacq’s sculptures and performances are both conceptual and fetishistic. His work has been featured in solo exhibitions in institutions across Europe, including Art 3, Valence, France (2021); Bétonsalon, Paris (2019); La Galerie in Noisy-le-Sec, France (2018); and the Swiss Art Awards, Basel, where he was one of the winners (2017). De Quillacq is also known for his performances, including Le Remplaçant and L’Imitation par les larmes, Les Ateliers de Rennes, France (2018); Faire Elle, Triangle, Marseille (2018); and Fraternité Passivité Bienvenue, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016). He has taken part in several group exhibitions, including Histoires vraies, Musée d’art contemporain du Val-de-Marne, France (2023); Nous sommes tous des lichens, Musée d’art contemporain de Rochechouart, France (2022); Des corps, des écritures. Regards sur l’art d’aujourd’hui, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (2022); Les Envoûtés, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris (2021); Children Power 3, Le plateau, FRAC île-de-france, Paris (2021); Troubles Tropiques, Centre Trouble à Plomb, Brussels (2021); Helmhaus, Zurich (2021); Matter of Art Biennial, Prague (2020); Future, ancient, fugitive, Palais de Tokyo (2019); and À Cris Ouverts, Rennes Biennial (2018).
PROGRAMS
PRESS
RESOURCES
ESSAYS
Sylvie Fortin, “Surrogacy, Money Shots, and Bit Rot,” Art/Agenda, June 18, 2021.
Sylvie Fortin, “Visqueen Lumisol Clear: Jean-Charles de Quillacq” TextWork, May 2020.
REVIEWS
Lotte Arndt, “Jean-Charles de Quillacq,” Art3, May 17, 2021.
Mara Hoberman, “Paris: Jean-Charles de Quillacq,” Artforum, July 2020.