Blitz: Chess as Artistic Metaphor at Galerie A.L.F.A.

The exhibition 'Blitz' at Galerie A.L.F.A. in Paris, from May 27 to June 26, 2010, explored the concept of speed and lightning-like creativity through the lens of chess. Curated by Aude Lamorelle, the show featured sixteen artists, including several Russians in honor of the Year of Russia. Works ranged from Man Ray's 1962 chessboard inscribed with a poem, to Stéphane Pencréac'h's bronze set pitting death against vitality, and Michel Gouéry's ceramic board with phallic pieces converging on a pink orifice. Raphaël Thierry's painting depicted artists as chess pieces: black side featured painters like Bacon, Kiefer, Freud, and Basquiat; white side included neo-pop-dadaists Koons, Warhol, Beuys, and Cattelan. Lamia Ziadé contributed an embroidered oriental queen. The opening night featured a blitz tournament on Rue de l'Échaudé with renowned players Samy Shoker and Brice Le Roy, echoing Marcel Duchamp's observation that all chess players are artists.