The Parisian gallery owner is presenting 17 neo-totems, assemblages of stones in subdued tone and that are veined, speckled, pocked and striped. “These objects have a strange presence because they are imbued with the culture of a collector, one who has made them simply on a whim, without any specific reason or artistic intent.” They are put together from elements like stones from lapidaries, a porphyry handle from an old Puiforcat ice bucket whose shape evokes the bust of an emperor, a 15th century Venetian circular floor tile, and from rock crystal, the only transparent stone. There is also orbicular diorite, a white-spotted granite extracted from a mine in Corsica today closed. Each has the feel of a 19th century object brought back from the Grand Tour, a trip through Europe made in the eighteenth century by young aristocratic men to finish off their education.
Between 2,000 and 7,000 euros – From September 12th to 30th 2017 at the Galerie Alexandre Biaggi, 14 rue de Seine 75006 Paris.
