From A to B and Back again

Galerie Chez Valentin is pleased to present “From A to B and Back Again”, a group exhibition curated by young London based artist Simon Moretti, who had his first solo exhibition at the gallery last year. Curating is an integral part of Simon Moretti’s practice. Appropriating the subtitle of Andy Warhol’s autobiography, he has invited fourteen artists of different generations and a variety of practices whose work engages with issues of consumption and notions of the product in contemporary society and as a re-appropriation of the reading of Pop Art.

Shahin Affrasiabi is showing “Vertical Black Shelf”, a rigorous construction made of wood and a shelving unit, Affrasiabi belongs to a generation of artists who see abstraction as a moment of beginning not arrival.

“HKC,F.S.” is a new work from the furniture sculpture series by John Armleder, where two armchairs by designer Hoi Kwok Chan are juxtaposed with a woolly red carpet displayed between them in a disorderly fashion.

Sylvie Fleury’s work “5400” consists of 5400 scattered Swarowsky crystals in one of the normally overlooked corners of the gallery space. Referencing the scatter works of other artists, its minimal presence acts as a contrast to the way the crystals react to the light becoming attention seeking and desirable.

Babak Ghazi, in “One Man Show“ has transformed an old drawer into a “magical” theatre through tinsel with a poster of Grace Jones beyond it.

Gareth Jones is showing a ready-made work: a Cheese Plant (Monsteria Deliciosa) in a white plastic vase, this iconic plant form the sixties and seventies, with its imposing height, readdresses humorously the idea of domestic sculpture.

HK119 is a young Finnish artist based in London who works with the “mise-en scenes” of musical performances, occupying a space between homage and parody.

Referencing a precarious economy and using as a starting point discount coupons for sanitary towels from newspapers and magazines, Gabriel Kuri, has translated them into traditional Mexican tapestry wall hangings.

Inside a museum style vitrine, “After Andy Warhol” is a new work by Goshka Macuga, a rare book of Warhol’s drawings has been repackaged with a hand tooled new leather binding depicting a translation of an early drawing by Warhol made with inlayed leather and silver leaf.

The painting by Mathieu Mercier is a simplistic geometric representation of a diamond painting the delicate refractions of light to create the illusion of a solid object. In doing so Mercier blurs the distinction between abstraction and figuration.

Simon Moretti has made a new large neon work where the logo of the eighties TV series “Fame” has been reproduced first by hand and then translated into a flashing three-dimensional neon structure. The soft colours used are a contrast to its monumental scale.

The poster works by Allen Ruppersberg repropose the aesthetic of cheap American posters, presenting the viewer with fundamental questions of truth.

“Russian Doll” is a work by Giorgio Sadotti in which magazine pages from Russian playboy have been the basis and support for a series of abstract drawings made with simple concentric cut out systems.

“Black Country Rock” is a product developed by Joe Scanlan made in collaboration with a scientist regarding the issues of consumption within the city. The title comes from a song by David Bowie written in collaboration with his guitarist as a homage to the city of Hull in the UK, which used to have the reputation of being one of the most difficult places to live in England.

Lily Van Der Stokker presents a configuration of preparatory drawings for her well-known wall drawing installations.

Elisabeth Wright has painstakingly fabricated a typically English milk crate with a single empty bottle but enlarged it by 130% original scale. The work at first glance could easily be mistaken for a readymade.

From A to B and Back again
Kurator: Simon Moretti

mit Shahin Afrassiabi, John Armleder, Sylvie Fleury, Babak Ghazi, Gareth Jones, HK 119 , Gabriel Kuri, Goshka Macuga, Mathieu Mercier, Simon Moretti, Allen Ruppersberg, Giorgio Sadotti, Joe Scanlan, Lily van der Stokker, Elisabeth Wright