City of art: Nathalie Du Pasquier's comprehensive solo show in Vienna

Art / 20 Jul 2016 / By Elana Wong

Nathalie Du Pasquier opens her first solo exhibition – 'Big Objects Not Always Silent' – at the Kunsthalle Wien, Austria. The comprehensive exhibition showcases her artistic journey, with works spanning 35 years of her career

A wide range of works are included, such as paintings, patterns, sculptures, designs, ceramics, carpets and other creations, from the beginnings of her career as a young designer to her segue into painting as a visual artist today

Du Pasquier and curator Luca Lo Pinto chose not to structure the exhibition chronologically, instead choosing to place pieces from completely different periods of her career side-by-side. Pictured: *Citta,* 1984. Right: *Big Drawing,* 2013

Organised as different rooms or ‘houses’ in ‘a city’, each presents a creative phase to demonstrate a natural evolution, as well as highlight recurring elements and processes in her work. Du Pasquier looks at still life in a fresh way, through how she considers and plays with the arrangement of forms

The ‘streets’ of the installation city are adorned with pieces that do not quite fit into any room, but somehow seem to link the different themes and phases

‘What bores me about the art world is the myth that art is so precious and that it should be so expensive. Art is just what you do. It is not less worthwhile to make a pattern or a carpet than a painting in the end,’ the artist says. Pictured: *C.R.A.F.T.*, 2002

For her first solo exhibition in Austria, Nathalie Du Pasquier presents a comprehensive journey through her work. On show at the Kunsthalle Wien, and curated by Luca Lo Pinto, the exhibition brings together paintings, patterns, sculptures, designs and other creations covering 35 years of her career, to construct a new understanding of her artistic development.

Born in Bordeaux, Milan-based Du Pasquier began her career in product design, becoming the youngest founding member of influential Milanese design and architecture collective Memphis at 23. In 1987, she switched her main focus to painting, and now sees herself primarily as a visual artist.

‘Big Objects Not Always Silent’ strives to see how Du Pasquier looks at still life in a fresh way, understanding how she considers and plays with the complex arrangement of forms and their spaces. Choreographed intuitively through their expressive and emotive relations, the exhibition is not structured chronologically, with Lo Pinto and Du Pasquier choosing to place pieces from completely different periods of her career side-by-side. Organised as different rooms or ‘houses’ in ‘a city’, each room presents a creative phase in order to demonstrate a natural evolution, as well as highlight recurring elements and processes in her work. ‘In the end,’ the artist says, ‘I wanted to create a “setup” with the elements collected during this long period, which could be considered as one single piece.'

Some of these include a ‘House of Drawings’, featuring works from her period as a designer in the 1980s, as well as her return to drawing in 2009; and ‘House 2’, which showcases paintings created from meticulously arranged sets of objects. The ‘streets’ of the installation city are adorned with linking pieces and carpets that Du Pasquier has designed over the years. As part of the exhibition, Kunsthalle Wien will also present a series of serigraphy workshops and tours open to the public.

RELATED TOPICS: MEMPHIS, EXHIBITIONS

Information

‘Big Objects Not Always Silent’ is on view until 13 November. For more information, visit the Kunsthalle Wien website

Photography courtesy Kunsthalle Wien

Address

Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier
Museumsplatz 1
1070 Vienna

Telephone

43.152 1890

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City of art: Nathalie Du Pasquier's comprehensive solo show in Vienna

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