Dominique Angel's 'Pièces supplémentaires' at Wharf Centre d'art contemporain

Dominique Angel's exhibition 'Pièces supplémentaires' at Wharf – Centre d'art contemporain de Basse-Normandie in Hérouville-Saint-Clair, France, from September 12 to November 8, 2003, interrogates the meaning and validity of art through sculpture, video, drawing, and photography. The show challenges the hierarchy between sculpture and pedestal, referencing Brancusi's 'Colonne sans fin' but subverting it by stopping the columns' ascent with a pedestal that becomes the artwork itself. Preparatory studies are framed with fabric, and a wall drawing reads 'Nul raison de s'en faire'. A tall crate containing furniture, a plant, a bear, and columns forces viewers to look up at a video of the artist seeking truth in art. Scattered photographs show Angel modeling himself as sculpture or camouflaged as an 'œuvre', critiquing reproduction's role in visibility. The exhibition space becomes an extension of the studio, a 'supplementary piece'. A neon sign reading 'Beauté moderne' contrasts with a documentary on jogging, choir, and protest, and a pile of lamps and TVs suggesting chaos beneath order. The review by Anne Cartel was published in artpress.