Hélène Delprat
La Maison Rouge
Paris
by Caroline Bourgeois
Hélène Delprat's choice of title for her exhibition, borrowed from Frank Sinatra's famous hit, "I did it my way," clearly announces her theme: appropriation. This proud affirmation means, dared to follow my own intuition, rather than convention." The motto, rather than referring to an immediate action or a specific plan, evokes a path to adopt throughout one's life, setting the tone for this exhibition of Delprat's groundbreaking work.
Represented until 1995 by Galerie Maeght, Delprat achieved acclaim rather early in her career. Yet, while her work was being widely exhibited, she felt something was missing. She decided to withdraw from the art world to rediscover her penchant for discovery, embarking on a more reflective period, which she refers to as her 'hodgepodge' years. The exhibition shows her universe, a "mess that brings together meaning and utter nonsense in a structured manner... I don't deliberately seek to create ugly work; I want to overtake my own taste, which leads me more instinctively toward Velasquez or Poussin's work. But it isn't easy to make ugliness acceptable." To describe her work Delprat likes to use the image of an iceberg: until 1995, painting constituted the visible part of her artistic activity, while writing, film, radio, and theater remained submerged, invisible to her audience.
In 1995 a reversal took place, and for the next fifteen years the previously hidden parts of her activity became her main focus: she wrote for herself and for radio programs, created sets for theater productions, gave interviews, and produced her first films. After meeting gallerist Christophe Gaillard in 2010, she returned to painting.
Delprat has created at la maison rouge a surprising exhibition, in which each visitor can construct a narrative—or several. It is a setting within which anything can happen. She suggests here the wide range of her research into cinematic, literary, philosophical, art historical, and musical references, including her interest into what we might refer to as her "bad taste." With this exhibition at la maison rouge, she has created a rich, fun, playful experience, providing visitors with a unique moment of enjoyment.
Hélène Delprat
Exhibitions at carlier | gebauer
- 06/20 Hélène Delprat / Cecilia Edefalk / Asta Gröting / Kyungah Ham / Pakui Hardware / Iman Issa / Guillaume Leblon / Julie Mehretu / Laure Prouvost / Thomas Schütte, Basel By Berlin
- 02/20 Sebastián Díaz Morales / Hélène Delprat / Michel François / Cecilia Edefalk / Vincent Gicquel / Paul Graham / Dor Guez / Kyungah Ham / Tarik Kiswanson / Julie Mehretu / Caroline Mesquita / Richard Mosse / Oscar Muñoz / Paul Pfeiffer / Laure Prouvost / Edi Rama / Erik Schmidt / Nida Sinnokrot / Thomas Schütte / Mark Wallinger, So what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing?
- 09/18 Hélène Delprat, "TO SLEEP TO DIE, NO MORE"
- 09/17 Hélène Delprat, 'with my voice I’m calling you', an introduction
Biography
Texts
- Caroline Bourgeois: Hélène Delprat - La Maison Rouge - Paris, in: Pinault Collection, Numero 09, Octobre 2017-March 2018
- Corinne Rondeau: Extracts from « L’univers est la cendre d’un dieu mort », in the exhibition’s catalogue co-published by Fage and La maison rouge, 2017.
- Sabrina Silamo: A la Maison rouge, Hélène Delprat ou l'art du contre-pied, in: Telerama, 21 Juni 2017.