Sylvie Fleury, Sculpture Nails, Thaddaeus Ropac Paris review

sculptures of accessories — Sylvie Fleury, *BUY ME*, 2005

(Image credit: © Sylvie Fleury. Photos: Pierre Tanguy)

Piles of bronze Slim-Fast tins in vanilla, strawberry and café-au-lait, a pair of Gucci handcuffs, Calvin Klein’s Eternity Now perfume – is the luxury and beauty industry inspiring and seducing us, or perhaps commanding and trapping us?

It’s a question that has long preoccupied Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury, who began exploring the consequences of materialism and the subversion of the status symbol in her first exhibition, ‘Shopping Bags’, in 1991. Since then, Fleury has recontextualised familiar items, including cars, make-up and magazines, in a bid to view them through an unfiltered lens.

sculpture of gold handcuffs — Sylvie Fleury, *Gucci Handcuffs*, 2001-02

The theme continues to drive her in a new exhibition, ‘Sculpture Nails’, at Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. Here are her beloved signature neons, from Exfoliate, Hydrate, Shield, Purify and BUY ME, which occupy different places on the subtlety spectrum, to the manic YES TO ALL, referencing the computer shortcut saving us the time of having to consider anything individually.

sculpture of folded raincoat across woman's legs — Sylvie Fleury,*The Black Shiny Vinyl Raincoat*, 2024

They sit alongside new and historic sculptures, in brass, fibreglass and bronze. Magazines, make-up, Alaïa shoes, a spikily zoomorphic hair clip; Fleury fetishes these items, or she is returning them to their authentic, exhibitionist status – or perhaps she is doing both.

With their often vast proportions and weighty materials referencing quirks of the art history canon, Fleury is mischievously spinning macho mythologies throughout. A yoga mat in bronze, embossed with Gucci’s ubiquitous pattern, is reminiscent of American artist Carl Andre’s industrial floor sculptures. Male references lie in sharp contrast to the polished femininity, particularly in 1995’s video work, Beauty Case, a still from which captures Fleury pushing her beauty case into the boot of a traditionally masculine Buick. It is a moment she cross-references in 2024’s Vanity Case, the artwork's mirrored ground itself an homage to another traditionally masculine reference, Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Mirror Paintings.

‘Sculpture Nails’ is at Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris until 22 February 2025

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artwork of woman in orange dressing reaching into boot of car — Sylvie Fleury,*Vanity Case*, 2024

silver sculpture of hair clip — Sylvie Fleury, *Hair Clip*, 2024

yellow neon artwork spelling 'Yes to all' — Sylvie Fleury,*YES TO ALL*, 2010

Hannah Silver is a writer and editor with over 20 years of experience in journalism, spanning national newspapers and independent magazines. Currently Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*, she has overseen offbeat art trends and conducted in-depth profiles for print and digital, as well as writing and commissioning extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury since joining in 2019.