Pascale Marthine Tayou's Cerf Contôle at Ruinart's Carte Blanche 2024

Pascale Marthine Tayou, born in Yaoundé in 1967 and based in Ghent, is a featured artist in Ruinart's Carte Blanche 2024, titled 'Conversazioni con la Natura.' The project invites six international artists selected for their commitment to sustainability to create works inspired by the Champagne house's relationship with nature. Tayou's piece, 'Cerf Contôle,' incorporates a deer as a symbol of resilience, a tree trunk made of antlers, and colored glass spheres evoking grapes and Champagne bottles. The work is on view until April 14 in Ruinart's VIP Lounge at miart. Other participating artists include Andrea Bowers, Henrique Oliveira, Marcus Coates, Thijs Biersteke, and Tomoko Sauvage. Their works will tour international art fairs and be gathered in an Artists' Garden at Ruinart's new architectural project in Reims, designed by Sou Fujimoto with landscape architect Christophe Gautrand. Tayou, known for using recycled materials and addressing themes like colonization, expressed that art cannot solve climate change but can convey messages. He chose to live in Ghent after being invited by Jan Hoet, calling it the center of his world.