The seductive call of consumerism: Sylvie Fleury in Paris
Sylvie Fleury delights in the luxury industry’s dark side at Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris, with her exhibition ‘Sculpture Nails’

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.
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.
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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Sylvie Fleury,Vanity Case, 2024
Sylvie Fleury, Hair Clip, 2024
Sylvie Fleury,YES TO ALL, 2010
Hannah Silver is the Art, Culture, Watches & Jewellery Editor of Wallpaper*. Since joining in 2019, she has overseen offbeat design trends and in-depth profiles, and written extensively across the worlds of culture and luxury. She enjoys meeting artists and designers, viewing exhibitions and conducting interviews on her frequent travels.
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