Lucy McKenzie's 'Plastic Newspaper' Exhibition at CRAC Occitanie Offers Critical Archaeology of Modernity

Scottish artist Lucy McKenzie is presenting her first major solo exhibition in France, titled 'Plastic Newspaper,' at CRAC Occitanie in Sète. The exhibition runs from March 21 to September 6, 2026. McKenzie, born in 1977 and based in Brussels, explores the origins of mass media through a multidisciplinary practice encompassing painting, sculpture, design, fashion, and immersive installations. The show represents the third phase of a cycle that began in Hasselt, Belgium, in 2024 and continued in Vienna. McKenzie investigates early entertainment formats from the 19th century, such as painted panoramas and dioramas, that transformed reality into spectacle. The exhibition title references historian Vanessa R. Schwartz's concept of hybrid forms at the intersection of image, information, and staging. Key works include 'The Faux Sports Shop,' a life-size fake storefront created with designer Beca Lipscombe through their fashion brand Atelier E.B., which blurs boundaries between art and commerce. McKenzie employs meticulous trompe-l'œil techniques learned in Brussels to reveal artistic artifice. Her mannequin works address the female body, repurposing standardized capitalist figures into hybrid political entities. Some feature the face of Soviet resistance heroine Zoïa Kosmodemianskaïa, while others reference fashion history, such as couturière Madeleine Vionnet. 'Duchamp Mannequin, 1938 (II)' revisits Marcel Duchamp's intervention at the 1938 Surrealist exhibition. An immersive train wagon installation draws inspiration from Max Ophuls's 1948 film 'Letter from an Unknown Woman.' The exhibition incorporates anatomical wax figures from the Dr. Spitzner collection at Montpellier University's medical faculty, highlighting their dual role in scientific education and voyeurism. Monumental murals include 'Mural Proposal for Jeffrey Epstein's New York Townhouse (Filming of American Psycho),' which connects the film's production anecdote with themes of power and image circulation, and another mural inspired by Francis Bacon's studio transformed into an illegal casino, critiquing speculative capitalism. A pointed installation reconstructs architect Adolf Loos's Villa Müller in fake marble, juxtaposed with his portrait and a business card referencing his 1928 conviction for indecent acts with minors. Through these diverse works, McKenzie conducts what she terms a 'critical archaeology' of visual modernity, examining contemporary phenomena like artificial intelligence and social media by tracing their historical roots. The exhibition confirms her status as a significant voice in contemporary art, capable of connecting eras and challenging perceptual norms.