Lost in the Supermarket: Art Interventions in Consumer Spaces

The exhibition 'Lost in the supermarket' at Espace Paul Ricard in Paris (25 September–30 October 2001) presented works by a new generation of French artists who intervene in consumer spaces on a minor mode, avoiding direct confrontation with capitalism. Curated by Jean-Yves Jouannais, the show features Jean-Baptiste Bruant's video installation 'Un rêve. En marchant avec précaution' (2000), a 33-minute film of the artist alone at night in a Parisian department store, his naked body moving through the furniture section in slow motion, creating an Orphic, choreographed relationship to the environment. Véronique Elléna contributes stylized photographs of friends and family posing as consumers in empty supermarket aisles, producing ironic family portraits that invest affective meaning into economically coded spaces. Francesco Finizio's humorous series of fake job applications to HR departments exaggerates the emotional dependency fostered by retail. The title 'Lost in the supermarket' takes on a clinical dimension across the works. Additionally, the Prix Ricard was awarded to Tatiana Trouvé.