Des oh! et des ah!
Maybellene or Combine Paintings: contemporary art and rock are two old things that need regular shake-ups while remaining faithful to their history.
By a process of free association, and always with a piece of music in mind, Pierre Ardouvin subtly combines traces and hints of a collective memory of celebrations and human interest stories with those left by the utopias of the 1960s and 1970s. Found objects of average tastelessness (reflecting average tastes), shiny light bulbs, sequins, and carousels are just some of the accessories he uses to create a theatre of objects, conjuring up Las Vegas and Hollywood in his studio in the Buttes-Chaumont neighbourhood of Paris or the Viennese woods in a town community centre. While emotion is nothing to be afraid of, he steers well clear of lending it too much power; sometimes it can cause a degree of friction.
Pierre Ardouvin’s retrospective currently on show at the Mac Val was planned as a stroll across an open, dark plateau where spotlights pin down some of the stages of twenty years of work, while carousels gaily spin, sweeping away nostalgia. The exhibition Tout est affaire de décor will form the main backdrop to our conversation, exploring the depths of the artist’s oeuvre.
