Artists: Mathilde Albouy, Miriam Cahn, Jina Khayyer, Keunmin Lee, Armineh Negahdari, Bri Williams
Exhibition title: What happens when we cry?
Curated by: Marion Coindeau
Venue: Galerie Derouillon, Paris, France
Date: May 16 – June 29, 2024
Photography: Grégory Copitet / all images copyright and courtesy of the artists and Galerie Derouillon, Paris
Galerie Derouillon is pleased to present its next group exhibition “What happens when we cry?” curated by Marion Coindeau with the participation of:
Mathilde Albouy
Miriam Cahn
Jina Khayyer
Keunmin Lee
Armineh Negahdari
Bri Williams
The exhibition brings together a group of contemporary artists from diverse backgrounds and scenes, all of whom focus their practice on the transformation of violence in political, spiritual and individual contexts. Before any projection of an anguished, fantasized or hoped-for future, the focus here is on capturing the moment when we cross/are crossed by violence and the emotions it carries.
At a time when it overflows our daily lives, when its relentless representation attempts to account for our cruelty – barbarism or indifference – we need to strip it bare: to move away from an explicit, figurative image, and to refuse a flashy or even seductive use of violence or suffering. We’re not looking for an end in its encounter – a form – but a process of transformation – a force. The artists involved think of vulnerability as a collective reality and propose a repertoire of gestures preferring embodiment to representation, in order to approach what runs through us.
Our tears function as portals. When our eyes are misty, the boundaries between our inner and outer selves become porous, the rational self is dissolved by our emotions, and we are then more likely to relate to others and shift our point of view. The tears initially envisaged are those of the “constructive and salutary rage” that animates the theorist and activist of African-American feminism bell hooks, that we feel in our flesh and that transforms us. This rage, whose manifestations are examined in the exhibition, is rooted in a concrete post-colonial context of struggle against racism and misogyny. Violence passes through bodies, language and voice, and takes hold of our representations.
More intimately, what does the experience of this violence do to us? What does it open up?
-Marion Coindeau
What happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisMathilde Albouy, From mother to daughter to mother to daughter, 2024, Wood, wax, one-way mirror, silver and brass, 203 x 45 x 25 cm, 79 7/8 x 17 3/4 x 9 7/8 inchesMathilde Albouy, From mother to daughter to mother to daughter, 2024, Wood, wax, one-way mirror, silver and brass, 203 x 45 x 25 cm, 79 7/8 x 17 3/4 x 9 7/8 inchesWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisWhat happens when we cry?, 2024, exhibition view, Galerie Derouillon, ParisBri Williams, Sword in Stone, 2018, Soap, mirror shard and suede thread, 63,5 × 25,4 x 25,4 cm, 25 x 10 x 10 inchesBri Williams, Untitled, Target, 2023, Roses, resin, store sign letter, soap and wood, 73 x 34,5 x 10,5 cm, 28 3/4 x 13 5/8 x 4 1/8 inchesBri Williams, Untitled, Target, 2023, Roses, resin, store sign letter, soap and wood, 73 x 34,5 x 10,5 cm, 28 3/4 x 13 5/8 x 4 1/8 inchesBri Williams, Untitled, Target, 2023, Roses, resin, store sign letter, soap and wood, 73 x 34,5 x 10,5 cm, 28 3/4 x 13 5/8 x 4 1/8 inchesKeunmin Lee, Body construction (II), 2024, Oil on canvas, 227,3 x 181,8 cm, 89 1/2 x 71 9/13 inchesKeunmin Lee, Body construction (I), 2024, Oil on canvas, 227,3 x 181,8 cm, 89 1/2 x 71 9/13 inchesMathilde Albouy, Les favorites (the haunters) (III), 2024, Wood and wax, 203 x 20 cm, 79 7/8 x 7 7/8 inchesMathilde Albouy, Les favorites (the haunters) (II), 2024, Wood and wax, 200 x 20 cm, 78 3/4 x 7 7/8 inchesMathilde Albouy, Les favorites (the haunters) (I), 2024, Wood and wax, 200 x 20 cm, 78 3/4 x 7 7/8 inchesMiriam Cahn, Gebet, 2003, Oil on canvas, 55,5 x 120 cm, 21 7/8 x 47 1/4 inchesArmineh Negahdari, La patte, 2023, Oil paint, chalk and pencil on paper, 62,5 x 48,5 cm, 24 5/8 x 19 1/8 inchesArmineh Negahdari, Reliés, 2021, Oil paint and pencil on paper, 29,5 x 21 cm, 11 5/8 x 8 1/4 inchesArmineh Negahdari, Grande émotion, 2022, Graphite and coloured pencil on canvas, 16,5 x 16 cm, 6 1/2 x 6 1/4 inchesArmineh Negahdari, Démesure, 2023, Oil pastel, charcoal and coloured pencil on paper, 120 x 80 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 inchesArmineh Negahdari, Eloquence muette, 2023, Oil pastel and charcoal on paper, 120 x 80 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 inchesArmineh Negahdari, Jamais l’une sans l’autre, 2023, Oil pastel and charcoal on paper, 120 x 80 cm, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2 inches