Le Confort moderne Celebrates 20 Years with Art and Music

Le Confort moderne, a combined art center and concert venue in Poitiers, celebrated its 20th anniversary on September 24, 2005, with a program blending contemporary art and underground rock. Two exhibitions were curated by artists under the title "Rupture des évidences." The first, "Concrete Castle," was curated by Rita Ackermann, featuring works by 17 artists in a black-painted space, including Harmony Korine, Richard Kern, Gilles Berquet, and Mirka Lugosi. Ackermann also filmed a movie of the same name live in the exhibition space, with a green screen room for computer-inserted sets, starring herself and invited artists. The film, about a mad architect building a concrete castle, evoked Sade and Marc Dorcel films, with music by Michael Portnoy, who performed at the opening. The second exhibition, "SPLITt," was organized by the eponymous music group formed by artists Jacques Julien, Hugues Reip, and Dominique Figarella, joined by Jad Fair and Fabio Viscogliosi, in a pristine white space. Figarella's recent canvases combine photography and painting, while Julien's sport-inspired sculptures show formal efficiency comparable to Anglo-Saxon sculptors like Gary Webb and Jason Meadows. The concert highlight was the reformation of the Lyon-based band Bästard, emblematic of the 1990s noise-underground scene, led by Éric Aldéa, for a single evening. The band's powerful sound, with deep bass, sampled loops, and melodies reminiscent of early music, had not aged.