Artist: Caroline Ventura
Exhibition title: Ppl create their own narrative anyway
Curated by: Haydée Marin & Camille Besson
Venue: Café des Glaces, Tonnerre, France
Date: November 11, 2023 – February 3, 2023
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Café des Glaces
Attracted by aligned, radical hangings, Caroline Ventura, for this exhibition, painted directly onto the mirrors in the Café des Glaces ballroom, which thus become ephemeral tableaux. This choice also reflects her own obsession with smooth, transparent materials, to which stickers and spray paint – two important elements in her visual universe – particularly adhere. She picks up on the idea, born of a discussion with a former teacher, that when you paint, you paint yourself, all painting being in part a self-portrait. She finds links between mirrors, reflections and painting, insofar as the latter can be held as an analogy of the self, both for the artist and for the viewer, who projects his or her personal history onto it. Hence the exhibition title ‘Ppl create their own narrative anyway (please interpret my work)’. To design the exhibition, she drew inspiration from photos of her own reflection taken in the street, a more or less blurred reflection that is here tagged, colored, scratched, dirtied and so on. In short, it’s an attempt to reappropriate this glimpsed image, even though it could make her feel self-conscious. The challenge was to complete this series of 12 mirror-paintings in one week. This lapse of time, taken as a challenge by the artist, lends a playful aspect to the whole project.
Caroline Ventura was born in Lausanne in 1994. Her practice includes photography, resin, drawing and painting. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in visual arts from ÉCAL, Lausanne, in 2016; in the process she was awarded the Walter & Eve Kent scholarship and the Prix du Risque. She then followed the Work.Master program at HEAD in Geneva, from which she graduated. In 2021, she was nominated for the Swiss Art Awards. She has exhibited in Switzerland and France, and lives between Lausanne and Paris.
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Meanclover, 2023, adhesive film, varnish, ink, and paint on mirror. Caroline Ventura, S cool, 2023, adhesive film, temporary tattoos, stickers, varnish, ink, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Courrage, 2023, antistatic film, temporary tattoos, stickers, varnish, ink, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Cy me (OKLM), 2023, antistatic film, stickers, varnish, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Paname06, 2023, adhesive film, temporary tattoos, stickers, varnish, glitter, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Sans titre, 2023, adhesive film, temporary tattoos, stickers, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Light green (observer), 2023, adhesive film, stickers, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Peace emo, 2023, adhesive film, stickers, varnish, ink, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Coffee shop, 2023, adhesive film, stickers, varnish, ink, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Parti, 2023, adhesive film, stickers, tape, ink, and paint on mirror
Caroline Ventura, Ppl create their own narrative anyway, exhibition view, Café des Glaces, Tonnerre
Caroline Ventura, Caro-scarface, 2023, antistatic film, temporary tattoos, tape, stickers, varnish, and paint on mirror. Caroline Ventura, Sissy Slut, 2023, antistatic film, temporary tattoos, tape, and paint on mirror