Artist: Ruti de Vries
Exhibition title: First Act:Evil Fluffy
Curated by: Charles Garcin
Venue: Cité internationale des arts, Paris, France
Date: November 20 – December 3, 2018
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Radio Talk – in the living room, like a noisy opera
Cork. Cockatoo, Tattoo, Guinea-Pigs
The mud and the mOOd were looking
With their big lurking Eyes or their Lunatic Kids
The thorns of three Apples that Alan shall not eat
The metallic juicer made freshly pressed siblings
Exquisite from the flanks of each one another/
They argued to kill water falls, kitchen sinks and chairs,
The very same territories their own bodies were made of.
A fascinating land. Digested by a thousand tribes.
To make a pure coffee kept sure in a tin hat.
Solely, Work. Cockatoo, tattoo, goo
Evil Fluffy escaped an acidic juicer
in Play-doh torpedo-shapes
Liberating meshes out of papier-mâché.
First Act: Evil Fluffy both marks the end of Israeli artist Ruti de Vries’ residency at Cité internationale des arts de Paris and the start of her collaboration with French curator Charles Garcin. Two narratives invite to appreciate a work unveiling itself over time: that of a freshly formed duo; that of a story with its load of characters and new plots, yet to be told along the three chapters of its itinerary (Paris, Marseille, Israel).
In Cité des arts’ Petite galerie, scriptural bodies inaugurate the show. Playlets in cardboard complete their representation.
These fawn-coloured, clay-toned frescoes illustrate hybrid beings, whose interspecies ubiquity (man/animal) recalls their lack of genderness and assert playfully their staged crossing of references (profane/sacred). The use of cardboard, adhesive, coffee-bags implement the general disorganisation of quoting resourcefulness. Carved stone, hieroglyphs, blown-up rupestrian beasts, Hellenic shards or Mesoamerican style faux echo the thirst of an era, where the unquenchable travel of men equates that of mass-produced, globalized goods and data. It therefore is logical Ruti de Vries is interested in the question of waste. Abandoned items find new life in her work like tracing paper of personal encounters. Kimonos, lamp-shade, checkers found in a cupboard, book or nylon bin-bags from a trip she ran to Germany. Each material is an index of adventures and of thwarted expectations. The inanimate breathes. In the middle of the room “Everyman*” rests, a book on its deflated hand, day-dreaming. “The Surrender” – unlikely encounter of a cut-out with a ready-made – adorn a cluster of found-objects. The uniform figure made of cardboard seating on a wheel-chair raises the self-indulgent pole of its declassification: a rag as a white flag. “Dog-Turtle”, a sphynx of cloth; “Evil
Fluffy”, a black-wool anteater glued on a cork board. By building together a precarious imaginary, Ruti de Vries questions some assumptions on contemporary creativity. Her economy of means flourishes in one as much generous as much as incongruous visual enterprise. To savoir-faire she opposes savoir-être, to socially-correct forms the pleasure of derision, to classic art materials that of the ordinary opening up, like the gestures she uses, the idioms of a wealthy banality (often unconsidered). Like smokescreens attracting birds, Ruti de Vries tips us over her universe to better handle a reflection of ourselves, and may-be, help to emancipate.
* : Everyman is the name of the protagonist of a 15th century morality play. The name is chosen in 1906 by Joseph Dent, a London visionary publisher, whose quest was to make accessible to the poor the jewels of literature. He founded Everyman’s Library, where the book found by Ruti de Vries in her residency comes from.
Text by Charles Garcin
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Everyman (Siesta #2), 2018, Maniqen, nylon, chinese hat, buttons, book, stone 220X130X80 cm
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Everyman (Siesta #2), 2018, Maniqen, nylon, chinese hat, buttons, book, stone 220X130X80 cm
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Everyman (Siesta #2), 2018, Maniqen, nylon, chinese hat, buttons, book, stone 220X130X80 cm
Ruti de Vries, The surrender, 2018, wheel chair, cardboard, wood, fabric, cotton strings 170X100X70 cm
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Shrine, 2018, metal box, plastic, cardboard, formica, napkin, vase, key, stickers 26X60X4 cm
Ruti de Vries, Tower of thoughts, 2018, wood, Plasticine, polystyrene, paper, stones, cards, sun glasses, paper 205X80X25 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Tower of thoughts, 2018, wood, Plasticine, polystyrene, paper, stones, cards, sun glasses, paper 205X80X25 cm
Ruti de Vries, The players, 2018, paper, cardboard, stickers, cork, 60X90 cm
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Take me with you, 2018, fabric, stickers, flax 107X93 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from A friend #1, 2018, carboard rolls, cleaning cloths, paper, wood 235X60X15 cm
Ruti de Vries, A friend #1, 2018, carboard rolls, cleaning cloths, paper, wood 235X60X15 cm; A friend #2, 2018, carboad rolls, wood, nylon, paper 235X60X15 cm
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, First Act:Evil Fluffy, 2018, exhibition view, Cité internationale des arts, Paris
Ruti de Vries, Evil fluffy, 2018, fabric, paper, stickers, cork 30X40 cm
Ruti de Vries, Dog turtle, 2018, wood, fabrics, lamp shed, stickers 112X60X40 cm
Ruti de Vries, Dog turtle, 2018, wood, fabrics, lamp shed, stickers 112X60X40 cm
Ruti de Vries, Fighter flag #2, 2018, judo suit, fabrics, wool, broom hair, bra pad, cleaning cloths 160X102 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Fighter flag #2, 2018, judo suit, fabrics, wool, broom hair, bra pad, cleaning cloths 160X102 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Fighter flag #1, 2018, judo suit, fabrics, wool, broom hair, bra pad, cleaning cloths 160X102 cm
Ruti de Vries, Fighter flag #1, 2018, judo suit, fabrics, wool, broom hair, bra pad, cleaning cloths 160X102 cm
Ruti de Vries, Anchor, 2018, walking aid, polystyrene, cleaning cloth, wool, judo suit, wood, paper 130X136X48 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Anchor, 2018, walking aid, polystyrene, cleaning cloth, wool, judo suit, wood, paper 130X136X48 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from Anchor, 2018, walking aid, polystyrene, cleaning cloth, wool, judo suit, wood, paper 130X136X48 cm
Ruti de Vries, Anchor, 2018, walking aid, polystyrene, cleaning cloth, wool, judo suit, wood, paper 130X136X48 cm
Ruti de Vries, Gang, 2018, paper on cardboard 60X40 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from A friend #2, 2018, carboad rolls, wood, nylon, paper 235X60X15 cm
Ruti de Vries, Detail from A friend #2, 2018, carboad rolls, wood, nylon, paper 235X60X15 cm
