Éléonore False's 'Needs' Transforms Found Images into Sculptural Assemblages

At Galerie VnH in Paris, Éléonore False's exhibition 'Needs' (May 2–June 15, 2019) presents three series that progressively distance themselves from found images. False, born in 1987 and a graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris, sources images from 1980s medical books, fragments them arbitrarily, and lets them mix in transparent sleeves before fixing them. The first series comprises traditional collages where a cut-out alters an image—a mouth in a landscape or arms on a pitcher. The second series includes three photographic prints on aluminum, two of which are cut to the shapes of elements arranged before scanning and enlargement, appearing as image scraps. The third series features three assemblages combining domestic objects (a tray, a pitcher, broom heads) with blown-glass sculptures loosely inspired by mushroom photographs. Here, the image is entirely absent, yet its evocative power remains strong. Critic Étienne Hatt describes False as an alchemist who transmutes images across the exhibition space.