Valérie Mréjen's Dual Solo Shows Explore Solitude and Failed Dialogue
Valérie Mréjen presents two concurrent solo exhibitions in Paris and Rouen, running from February to March 2014. At Galerie Rue Visconti in Paris, the show 'Est-ce que l'on remarquera mon absence ?' features new video works including a piece depicting a couple at a restaurant whose disconnected conversation is interspersed with postcard images, and 'Vraiment ?', where a man dons 25 T-shirts printed with inner monologue phrases, becoming physically burdened by words. The final yellow T-shirt reads 'Est-ce qu'on remarquera mon absence ?'. The Rouen exhibition 'Meilleur souvenir' at 180 rue de Martainville includes older videos and 'Meilleur souvenir', a work on loan from Frac Haute-Normandie consisting of 15 postcards with surnames cut from a phone directory forming banal summer messages. The Rouen show also features a video of an elderly woman repeating 'Au revoir et bonne journée'. Together, the exhibitions offer a mini-retrospective spanning Mréjen's practice: works on paper, narratives, artist books, and videos ranging from slideshows to cinematic and documentary styles. The works consistently address absence, impossible dialogue, monologue, and restraint, echoing themes from her 2001 book 'L'Agrume' (Allia) and her 2008 Jeu de Paume exhibition.
Key facts
- Valérie Mréjen has two concurrent solo exhibitions: 'Est-ce que l'on remarquera mon absence ?' at Galerie Rue Visconti, Paris (Feb 7–Mar 29, 2014) and 'Meilleur souvenir' at 180 rue de Martainville, Rouen (Jan 24–Mar 2, 2014).
- The Paris show includes a new video of a couple at a restaurant whose dialogue is punctuated by postcard reproductions of landscapes and cities.
- Another Paris video, 'Vraiment ?', shows a man putting on 25 T-shirts printed with inner monologue phrases over five minutes.
- The final T-shirt in 'Vraiment ?' is bright yellow and reads 'Est-ce qu'on remarquera mon absence ?'.
- The Rouen exhibition includes 'Meilleur souvenir', a work on loan from Frac Haute-Normandie, made of 15 postcards with surnames cut from a phone directory.
- A video in Rouen features an elderly woman repeating 'Au revoir et bonne journée'.
- The exhibitions provide a mini-retrospective of Mréjen's work, including works on paper, narratives, artist books, and videos.
- Mréjen's work consistently explores themes of absence, impossible dialogue, monologue, and restraint.
- The Paris show includes 'Carrousel', one of three new pieces, described as a slideshow.
- Mréjen's 2001 book 'L'Agrume' (Allia) is referenced as a precursor to the video's themes.
- Mréjen had a previous exhibition at Jeu de Paume in 2008.
Entities
Artists
- Valérie Mréjen
Institutions
- Galerie Rue Visconti
- Frac Haute-Normandie
- Allia
- Jeu de Paume
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Rouen
Sources
- artpress —