XAVIER VEILHAN: SCULPTURE PARK
Perrotin Shanghai presents Sculpture Park, an exhibition by the distinguished French artist Xavier Veilhan. This exhibition, which marks Veilhan's second solo presentation in mainland China, intersects with the broad trajectory of his oeuvre.
March 15 – May 25, 2024
Veilhan, whose practice encompasses sculpture, painting, installation, and photography, situates himself at the nexus of artisanal craftsmanship and technological innovation, challenging and extending the boundaries of traditional artistic mediums into the digital era. His work critically engages with the concepts of representation and the physical manifestation of ideas, driven by a continuous pursuit of innovation and experimental rigor.
Whether through the tangible medium of sculpture or the ephemeral realm of images, Veilhan evokes a dreamlike aura of human presence, reminiscent of spectral figures haunting the urban environment, thereby challenging the primacy of pixelated precision in the current visual paradigm.
Noticeably, in Sculpture Park, a virtual reality work represents a significant moment in his exploration of unconventional exhibition methods, particularly advancing the examination of how visibility operates and the processes by which ideas are materialized. Sculpture Park offers a semi-retrospective look at Veilhan's extensive career, combining five key elements from his public sculptures, the mobiles, Architectones project, light-based machinery, and early environmental works like La Forêt (The Forest) and La Grotte (The Cave).
Initiated nearly two years ago, the VR experience Sculpture Park offers an unparalleled opportunity for viewers to navigate a succession of relational environments, effectively functioning as a hyper-textual space that challenges conventional notions of the "movie theater" and prompts a critical reassessment of our perceptions of spatiality, form, and the participatory role of the audience within the art experience. In the space titled "Island of Dogs," viewers are confronted with a monumental canine sculpture featuring a mysterious blue portal that ushers them into an exhibition realm of static sculptures.
Progressing to "The Cité Radieuse," viewers are invited into a virtual iteration of Le Corbusier's iconic Marseille residential complex (1947- 1952), where a blue cube on a yellow stage within a gymnasium serves as a portal to an unfolding scene. Entering the cube, the walls ascend to disclose an assembled audience, mirroring the gathering at the 2013 "Architectones" exhibition in the MAMO, the art center of the Cité Radieuse.
The confluence of humanity and technology within the exhibition "Sculpture Park" encapsulates the intricate challenges and opportunities of navigating a world saturated with technological innovation. Coupled with the virtual reality experience, this new body of works collectively underscores the immense possibilities for augmenting human capability and comprehension while necessitating a vigilant awareness of how technology can contour, constrain, and define our perceptions and interactions.