CELINE ART PROJECT

LOCATED ON RENOWNED OMOTESANDO STREET IN TOKYO, THE NEWLY REVAMPED CELINE STORE HAS BEEN CONCEIVED AS A TIMELESS SETTING, PART OF THE NEW ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CONCEPT BY HEDI SLIMANE; THE FINEST NATURAL MATERIALS JUXTAPOSED, CRAFTING A BALANCED AND EXPANSIVE SCULPTURAL INTERIOR. IN CONTINUITY WITH THE EXISTING CELINE ART PROJECT, A SELECTION OF CONTEMPORARY ART PIECES ARE ON DISPLAY: PAINTINGS BY CHRIS SUCCO AND JOHN ISAACS AS WELL AS SCULPTURES BY A. KASSEN, DAVID NASH, ELIZABETH ATTERBURY AND CAMERON PLATTER.

ELAINE CAMERON WEIR “SNAKE X”, 2019​

ELAINE CAMERON-WEIR WAS BORN IN 1985 IN RED DEER, ALBERTA CANADA. SHE STUDIED AT THE ALBERTA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, AND LATER AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, EARNING AN MFA IN 2010. SHE CURRENTLY LIVES AND WORKS IN QUEENS, NEW YORK.

CAMERON-WEIR ASSEMBLES CONTRASTING NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL ELEMENTS INTO SCULPTURAL ENTITIES USING MATERIALS SHE IS DRAWN TO FOR THEIR FUNCTIONAL OR PROVISIONAL ATTRIBUTES.
THE SNAKE SERIES IS AN ONGOING BODY OF WORK THAT STARTED IN 2016. THEY ARE MADE OF VITREOUS ENAMEL FUSED TO COPPER PIECES WHICH ARE THEN ATTACHED TO AN ARCHITECTURAL MESH BACKING USING TWISTED WIRES. OF THE MANY REFERENCES IN THE WORK, ONE IS A FLAYED AND DISPLAYED 'SKIN' WITH NO HEAD OR TAIL KIND OF LIKE AN OUROBOROS, THE SNAKE THAT EATS ITS OWN TAIL. THAT SYMBOL IS OF INTEREST TO ELAINE CARMERON WEIR THE IDEA OF A PERPETUALLY SELF-CONSUMING THING SEEMS AT ONCE A SERIOUS METAPHOR FOR RENEWAL AND ALSO A FARCICAL
REPRESENTATION OF BEING TRAPPED WITHIN A SELF-PERPETUATING SYSTEM. WEIR IMAGINED THEM AS A SERIES TO EMPHASIZE THE ‘ENDLESS’ NATURE OF THIS COMPARISON AS SHE IS USUALLY DRAWN TO ARCHETYPAL SYMBOLS THAT HAVE MULTIPLE MEANINGS AND RESIST A SIMPLE INTERPRETATION.

CAMERON-WEIR HAS HELD SOLO EXHIBITIONS AT INSTITUTIONS IN BOTH THE US AND ABROAD, INCLUDING AT THE NEW MUSEUM, NY; DORTMUNDER KUNSTVEREIN, GERMANY; STORM KING ART CENTER, NEW WINDSOR, NY; SCAD MUSEUM OF ART, GA; AND THE HENRY ART GALLERY UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. IN 2022 CAMERON-WEIR’S WORK WAS FEATURED IN THE 59TH VENICE BIENNALE.

A. KASSEN​ "BRONZE POUR L", 2021

GRADUATES OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF DENMARK, COPENHAGEN-BASED A KASSEN HAVE BEEN COLLABORATING SINCE 2004. THE A KASSEN ARE ALREADY PART OF THE CELINE ART PROJECT COLLECTION AND THEIR WORK IS ALSO DISPLAYED IN THE CELINE FLAGSHIP STORE IN LONDON NEW BOND STREET.​

ARTIST GROUP A KASSEN’S PRACTICE IS FIRST AND FOREMOST AN EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FORM AND CONTENT. BEGINNING WITH AN OBJECT OR AN ELEMENT, SUCH AS AN EVERYDAY OBJECT, A MATERIAL SUCH AS BRONZE, OR SOMETHING MORE EPHEMERAL LIKE A PUDDLE OR A REFLECTION, A KASSEN TASK THEMSELVES WITH ACTS OF CONSTRUCTION AND DECONSTRUCTION, WITH REINTERPRETATION AND RE-CONTEXTUALISATION, AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF QUESTIONING OUR PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF WHAT THE PHENOMENON IN QUESTION REALLY IS. RELYING PURELY ON THE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL REACTIONS OF NATURAL ELEMENTS, A KASSEN’S BRONZE POUR SERIES IS CREATED BY POURING SMALL AMOUNTS OF HOT, LIQUID BRONZE DIRECTLY INTO THE WATER. THE BRONZE COOLS UPON IMPACT, CREATING SMALL, UNPREDICTABLE AND UNEXPECTED SHAPES, WHICH ARE SCANNED AND CAST ON A LARGER SCALE IN BRONZE.​

THE ARTISTS’HANDS ARE NOTABLY ABSENT IN THE SHAPING OF THE WORKS. THEY ARE NECESSARILY ABSTRACT, YET THEY RETAIN A REFERENTIAL QUALITY TO THEM AS WE INSTANTLY TRY AND PLACE THEM AND FIND RECOGNISABLE SOURCES FOR THEIR IMAGERY. REMINISCENT OF MODERN SCULPTURES, BRONZE POUR L RETAINS A KIND OF BIOMORPHIC FORM THAT ADDS TO THIS AMBIGUITY.​

CHRIS SUCCO​ "TELEVISED MIND", 2022

BORN IN DUSSELDORF, GERMANY, IN 1979, CHRIS SUCCO WORKS IN A VARIETY OF MATERIALS AND PROCESSES, CREATING PAINTINGS MADE BY SPRAY PAINTING LACQUER AND OIL ON CANVAS USING A MINIMALIST PALETTE LARGELY COMPRISED OF MATTE BLACK AND WHITE.​

SUCCO’S ZIGZAG PAINTINGS RESEMBLE WRITING OR CALLIGRAPHY, A CHARACTERISTIC THAT EVINCES THE SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCES OF POETRY AND MUSIC IN HIS WORK. FOR ONE OF HIS BEST-KNOWN SERIES, THE WHITE PAINTINGS, THE PAINTING BACKGROUND IS PARTIALLY OBSCURED BY GESTURAL LAYERS OF WHITE OIL PAINT, ALLOWING FLASHES OF COLOUR TO SHINE THROUGH. CREATING ALSO SILKSCREENED COLLAGES ON CANVAS OR SCULPTURES WITH MILD STEEL, MESH, OR BOXING EQUIPMENT, SUCCO WRITES A STORYLINE FROM ONE WORK TO ANOTHER THAT SHARES A QUEST OF INDIVIDUALITY WITHIN THE ELEMENTS OF EXPRESSION AND REFINEMENT OF FORMS AND TECHNIQUES.​

THE ARTIST SOURCED MANY OF HIS ARTWORK TITLES FROM THE POETRY BOOK ‘THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR NOT BEING ALONE WITH YOUR DYING’WHICH HE CO-AUTHORED WITH HIS WRITER-FRIEND PAUL WASSERMAN IN 2015.​ CHRIS SUCCO HAS HAD OUTSTANDING EXHIBITIONS IN GALLERIES AROUND THE WORLD.​

DAVID NASH​ "SERPENTINE COLUMN", 2017

BORN IN ESHER, ENGLAND IN 1945, DAVID NASH LIVES AND WORKS IN BLAENAU FFESTINIOG IN NORTH WALES WHERE, IN THE LATE 1960S, HE RENOVATED A VICAR’S HOUSE WITH A CHAPEL TO HOUSE HIS STUDIO.​

A BRITISH SCULPTOR AND LAND ARTIST, NASH WORKS ONLY WITH WOOD FROM TREES THAT HAVE FALLEN NATURALLY OR BEEN FELLED DUE TO AGE, DISEASE OR SAFETY. FREQUENT MOTIFS INCLUDE EGGS, COLUMNS, CROSSES, AND PYRAMIDS; HIS WORK IS DOMINATED BY BOTH ORGANIC AND GEOMETRIC SHAPES. IN LARGE-SCALE INSTALLATIONS CORK OAK BARK IS STACKED TO MAKE TOWERING SPIRES AND CIRCLES, OAK BRANCHES ARE BURNT AND PLACED IN THE GROUND TO FORM LOW, CONVEX STRUCTURES AND CIRCLES. THE ARTIST USES ‘TOOLS’ AS VARIED AS THE AXE, THE CHAINSAW, FIRE AND WATER; HE IS ALSO A REMARKABLE DRAUGHTSMAN, USING PENCIL, PAPER AND INK.​

DAVID NASH HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY SINCE 1999. HIS WORK IS WIDELY REPRESENTED IN MUSEUMS AND INSTITUTIONS IN EUROPE, AMERICA, AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN.​

CAMERON PLATTER​ "!!!XXXXXXX??JZJSJHDJSJBSSSSHSHSHSHSHZH***ZU", 2019

BORN IN 1978, JOHANNESBURG, CAMERON PLATTER LIVES AND WORKS IN KWAZULU NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA. HIS ECLECTIC AND MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ART MAKING, TYPICALLY DRAWS FROM EVERY DAY, UNORTHODOX, TRANSIENT, FRAGMENTED, DISPARATE, OVER-LOOKED SOURCES.​

HIS TOTEM SCULPTURES - ASSEMBLAGES OF WOODEN SCULPTURES THAT REPRODUCE MASS-PRODUCED EVERYDAY OBJECTS (CINDER BLOCKS, CHAIRS, DUSTBINS, TYRES, FRIDGES, TOILETS, DECKCHAIRS, ETC.) - ARE THREE-DIMENSIONAL METAPHORICAL MONUMENTS, COLLAGES AND CRITIQUES OF THESE SAME OBJECTS AND THEIR WIDER AESTHETIC, CULTURAL, SOCIETAL AND FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. THE ARTIST RE-CONCEPTUALIZES THE MARGINS OF SOUTH AFRICAN POPULAR CULTURE, HIGHLIGHTING POWERFUL SOCIO-POLITICAL THEMES THROUGH A DECEPTIVELY SIMPLE VISUAL LANGUAGE.​

HIS WORK HAS BEEN EXHIBITED AT NY AND FS MOMA; PALAIS DE TOKYO, PARIS; CENTRE POMPIDOU, PARIS; LE BIENNALE DE DAKAR, SENEGAL AND APPEARS IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTION OF MOMA, NEW YORK; THE FRAC DES PAYS DE LA LOIRE, FRANCE; AND THE IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL GALLERY.​

JOHN ISAACS​ "EREBUS", 2022

BORN IN LANCASTER, ENGLAND, IN 1968, JOHN ISAACS LIVES AND WORKS IN BERLIN. HIS TRAINING AS A SPECIALIST IN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY HAS LEFT HIM WITH A STRONG INTEREST IN EXPLORING AND UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERIES OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.

HE BECAME WELL KNOWN IN THE 1990S WITH HIS HYPER-REALISTIC WAX SCULPTURES OF HUMAN BODIES THAT HAVE BECOME SHAPELESS, FATTY AND REPULSIVE MASSES, SOMETIMES CREATING UNEASE OR ANXIETY. WITH AN AVERSION TO REPETITION, THE ARTIST DOES NOT CONFINE HIMSELF TO ONE STYLE. LIKE A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST WHO LEARNS BY DOING, HE EXPERIMENTS WITH A VARIETY OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES, FROM CERAMICS TO NEON, FROM BRONZE OR MARBLE SCULPTURE TO PHOTOGRAPHY. THE TITLES OF HIS WORKS PLAY IMPORTANT ROLES IN HIS PRACTICE. THEY CAN BE AMBIGUOUS PHRASES THAT QUESTION THE VIEWER ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE SEEING AND ABOUT THE REALITY THAT SURROUNDS THEM. SOMETIMES A SAME TITLE IS USED FOR SEVERAL WORKS, WHICH THEN FORM PART OF THE SAME ‘EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE’.

JOHN ISAAC’S WORK HAS BEEN FEATURED IN NUMEROUS INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS, INSTITUTIONS AND GALLERIES, SUCH AS: THE SAATCHI GALLERY, LONDON; MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, KYOTO; TATE LIVERPOOL, MUSEUM DER MODERNE, SALZBURG AMONGST OTHERS.​

ELIZABETH ATTERBURY​ "BRONZE CHOP", 2018

BORN IN WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, IN 1982, ELIZABETH ATTERBURY IS AN AMERICAN ARTIST WHO LIVES AND WORKS IN PORTLAND, MAINE. SHE RECEIVED HER BA FROM HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE AND HER MFA FROM MASSART. ATTERBURY’S STUDIO PRACTICE IS FLUID, FLUCTUATING BETWEEN PICTURE MAKING AND OBJECT MAKING. FASCINATED WITH THE AUTONOMY OF THE ARTIFACT – OBJECTS DISASSOCIATED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL FUNCTION AND CONTEXT – ATTERBURY’S PRACTICE CONSIDERS THE DISTINCTION OR LACK THEREOF BETWEEN ARTIFACT, PROP, MODEL AND SCULPTURE.

DRAWN TO MATERIALS SUCH AS PAPER AND SAND, ATTERBURY CONSTRUCTS EPHEMERAL TABLEAUX SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF TRANSFIGURING AND RECORDING THEM. BOTH HER PHOTOGRAPHS AND SCULPTURE BUILD UPON A CONTINUED INTEREST IN DISPLAY AND ITS VISUAL STRUCTURES, ALONG WITH A MORE RECENT INTEREST IN LANGUAGE, RITUAL, AND ABSTRACTION. RECENT SOLO AND GROUP SHOWS INCLUDE MRS. MASPETH (2022); DOCUMENT, CHICAGO (2021); THE ICA AT MAINE COLLEGE OF ART, PORTLAND (2021); THE PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART, PORTLAND (2018); OR THE COLBY COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART, WATERVILLE (2015) AMONGST OTHERS.​