Pierre Ardouvin's 'Brain Damage' at Galerie Chez Valentin

Pierre Ardouvin's exhibition 'Brain Damage' at Galerie Chez Valentin in Paris, from September 8 to October 20, 2012, presents a psychedelic journey with a bittersweet tone. The show features a miniature horse with a skull head rotating alone on a carousel, setting the mood at the entrance. A waiting room scene includes plastic chairs, fake water leaks on walls, and a copy of Jours de France magazine featuring Grace Kelly's wedding cast in resin with black gloves. Outside this room, walls display colorful, kitsch vacation landscapes painted on enlarged scanned postcards. The works incorporate forged newspaper holders on white fur bases, each supporting a black shiny lump called 'Les Poux,' made of glass from Meisenthal. Skull shapes emerge under white flowers, and the images evoke tragic memories of broken dreams. A khaki tent lined with mirrors, reminiscent of military disaster relief tents, seems to absorb all imagery.