Camille Blatrix at Kunstverein Braunschweig

Artist: Camille Blatrix

Exhibition title: Somewhere Safer

Curated by: Nele Kaczmarek

Venue: Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany

Date: September 8 – November 18, 2018

Photography: Stefan Stark / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Kunstverein Braunschweig

For his project Somewhere Safer, CAMILLE BLATRIX modifies Kunstverein Braunschweig’s Remise, reorganizing the spatial situation with architectural interventions. As a harbinger of the show, the entrance area, that is usually perceived en passant, is transformed into a nostalgic waiting room.

Sculptures, paintings and a “soundtrack” produced on-site are condensed into a tense, at times menacing atmosphere of waiting. Each element testifies to the fear and anticipation of an imminent event, whereby the expectation and accumulated exertion that also arise from the manipulated air circulation affect the human body.

Candlelight and ears of corn recur as symbols of live/decease and carry a sense of fruitfulness, sexual lust, and dedication. Shielded by handcrafted wooden pieces, only parts of the Remise are accessible, while other rooms remain hidden in the gleaming light. This way, Somewhere Safer presents itself as an ambivalent oasis—a private retreat that suggests protection from an outside world and a feeling of anxiety and inner strife at once.

In his artistic practice Camille Blatrix explores the emotional connections we develop to surrounding objects and environments. How do we treat objects that serve as surrogates for intangible memories, objects that are charged with value and meaning? And to what extend do we read them as signs for future events? Behind the smooth, technoid surfaces of Camille Blatrix’ works, which may combine Macintosh references with personal notes, hides an interest in current conflicts between commercial appropriation and personalization of objects. Quoting corporate identity and marketing strategies, Camille Blatrix also requests how the mechanisms of the market have spread to an art context.

After graduating from the Ecolé nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, CAMILLE BLATRIX (*1984 in Paris, FR) realized solo exhibitions at Balice Hertling, Paris (2014/2017), CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2016) and Taylor Macklin, Zurich (2018), among others. Camille Blatrix also participated in group exhibitions at the Sculpture Center, New York (2014) and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2015). In 2015, Blatrix was part of the Biennale de Lyon. He won the 2014 Fondation d’entreprise Ricard prize.

Camille Blatrix, Installation view Somewhere Safer, Kunstverein Braunschweig, 2018, Courtesy of the artist