Starting out as a billboard painter, pop art protagonist James Rosenquist has never downsized. Like an elephant in a room, his eerie monumental works inspired by advertising aesthetics denounce the colossal absurdity of society’s rapacious consumerism. His instantly recognisable, hyperrealist mixed media works (painting and collage) juxtapose images of contemporary events to evoke an unsettling, hard-hitting contemporary reality. This exploration of reality is traced in 'Four Decades, 1970–2010'.
Now 83 years old, Rosenquist rose to fame in the 60s with F-111 (1965), a 51-panel work of an American fighter plane, viscous orange tinned spaghetti and a child under a hair dryer. Like most of Rosenquist’s works, it evokes an explicit feeling, one of injustice at the killing of innocence through war, the spaghetti a recurring symbol for spilt human entrails.
In the exhibition, the 33 rarely exhibited works highlight the artist’s thematic phases including space exploration, aesthetics, geo-politics, technology and ecology. However, the highlight is the highly aesthetic 14m-long Four New Clear Women (read ‘four nuclear women’). Pertaining to the women in power at the time – like Margaret Thatcher – and contemporary nuclear issues, four women’s eyes sit in splintered pink faces, arranged clockwise against a backdrop of cogs, signalling a running out of time: a fundamental motif for the artist.
His gaudy ‘fragments of reality’, as he calls them, are an explosion of disgust that force us to face the nonsensicality of modern capitalism and its sprawling impact. And for Rosenquist, collage is the decisive medium for expressing that. He writes, 'In collage there is a glint... or reflection of modern life. For example, if you take a walk through midtown Manhattan and you see the back of a girl's legs and then you see out of the corner of your eye a taxi comes close to hitting you. So – the legs, the car – you see parts of things and you rationalise and identify danger by bits and pieces. It's very quick. It's about contemporary life.'
A second exhibition – 'The Collages, 1960–2010', a show of 30 of Rosenquist’s first collages – is also on show at Thaddaes Ropac's Marais outpost until 24 September.
The pop art protagonist, now 83, rose to fame in the 1960s. His instantly recognisable, hyperrealist mixed media works (painting and collage) juxtapose images of contemporary events to evoke an unsettling, hard-hitting contemporary reality. Pictured: Galerie Thaddeaus Ropac, Pantin
Energy crisis, 1979. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg. Copyright James Rosenquist / VAGA, New York / ADAGP, Paris
The 33 rarely exhibited works highlight the artist’s thematic phases including space exploration, aesthetics, geo-politics, technology and ecology
Embrace III, 1983. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg. Copyright James Rosenquist / VAGA, New York / ADAGP, Paris
The highlight is the 14m-long Four New Clear Women. Pertaining to women in power at the time and contemporary nuclear issues, four women’s eyes sit in splintered pink faces, arranged clockwise against a backdrop of cogs, signalling a running out of time. Pictured: Four New Clear Women, 1982. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg. Copyright James Rosenquist / VAGA, New York / ADAGP, Paris
Source for Talking, Flowers Ideas, 1987. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg. Copyright James Rosenquist / VAGA, New York / ADAGP, Paris
His gaudy ‘fragments of reality’, as he calls them, are an explosion of disgust that force us to face the nonsensicality of modern capitalism and its sprawling impact. Pictured: Source for Star Thief, 1980. Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg. Copyright James Rosenquist / VAGA, New York / ADAGP, Paris
INFORMATION
’Four Decades, 1970–2010’ is on view at Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin until 7 January 2017. ’The Collages, 1960–2010’, an exhibition of 30 of Rosenquist’s first collages, is on show at Thaddaeus Ropac Marais until 24 September. For more information, visit the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac website
ADDRESS
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
69, Avenue du Général-Leclerc
FR-93500 Pantin
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
7 Rue Debelleyme
FR-75003 Paris
-
Watch dance, music and film collide at a unique event at Abbey Road StudiosIn this exclusive film, watch Abbey Road’s first Artist in Residence, Jordan Rakei, collaborate with industry-leading creatives to produce a dance performance in the hallowed Studio One
-
Frances Elkins gets her dues at Christie's this JuneYou can soon take home a piece of the legendary American designer’s legacy…including a $3 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture.
-
The new Phone 2 Pro from CMF combines generous scale with true affordabilityWe explore the ins and outs of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, the newest device from the Nothing sub-brand that focuses on bold design and carefully honed value engineering
-
Contemporary artist collective Poush takes over Château La CosteMembers of Poush have created 160 works, set in and around the grounds of Château La Coste – the art, architecture and wine estate in Provence
-
‘David Hockney 25’: inside the artist’s blockbuster Paris show‘David Hockney 25’ has opened at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Wallpaper’s Hannah Silver took a tour of the colossal, colourful show
-
Jack White's Third Man Records opens a Paris pop-upJack White's immaculately-branded record store will set up shop in the 9th arrondissement this weekend
-
‘The Black woman endures a gravity unlike any other’: Pharrell Williams explores diverse interpretations of femininity in ParisPharrell Williams returns to Perrotin gallery in Paris with a new group show which serves as an homage to Black women
-
What makes fashion and art such good bedfellows?There has always been a symbiosis between fashion and the art world. Here, we look at what makes the relationship such a successful one
-
Architecture, sculpture and materials: female Lithuanian artists are celebrated in NîmesThe Carré d'Art in Nîmes, France, spotlights the work of Aleksandra Kasuba and Marija Olšauskaitė, as part of a nationwide celebration of Lithuanian culture
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekInvesting in quality knitwear, scouting a very special pair of earrings and dining with strangers are just some of the things keeping the Wallpaper* team occupied this week
-
Tom Wesselmann’s enduring influence on pop art goes under the spotlight in Paris‘Pop Forever, Tom Wesselmann &...’ is on view at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris until 24 February 2025
